"白马非马"是诞生于先秦名辩思潮中的一个典型命题,自古及今,评论者见仁见智、莫衷一是。其中,就对公孙龙"白马说"的批评而言,批评者往往把"白马非马"这一命题置于特定的论域,即并非《公孙龙子·白马论》所设定的论域来进行讨论。这样,相应的批评也就难免稻草人谬误。探寻"白马说"的原意,回归到《公孙龙子·白马论》所呈现的文本世界,当是理解公孙龙"白马非马"及其论证的恰当选择。
“Bai Ma Fei Ma”is a claim put forward in Pre-Qin period. According to what we have known till now, Ni Yue is the first man who put forward the claim, while Gongsun Long accomplished the argument about“Bai Ma Fei Ma”for the first time. From then on, there are always different opinions about“Bai Ma Fei Ma”. One dominant opinion treat the calim as being sophism, while some people think the claim contains two different elements: correct and incorrect. In the Chinese modern time, some scholars began to consider“Bai Ma Fei Ma”on the ground of Western thought. In this period, some people approved the claim, while others did not think so. When people criticize the claim, they usually do not consider the context where the claim exists. So, it is unfair to regard the claim to be fallacious. When we talk about the claim“Bai Ma Fei Ma”, it will be wise to understand the related statements in Gongsunlongzi, especially in such chapters as Mingshilun and Baimalun. The basic method of argument on“Bai Ma Fei Ma”includes these two different sides: (1) analizing the meaning of“Bai”,“Ma”, and“Bai Ma”;(2) thinking about the fact that how people use the terms“Ma”and“Bai Ma”in real life.