Excerpt from Rainstorm of Tomorrow (Dong): All Questions Are Involved with Logos
Core Question: What language should we use to describe the material nature of the world? If we advocate that this world is fundamentally material—which is to say that all the objects described in our everyday language are essentially matter—we soon become embattled by difficulties of semantics. Some words refer to very “concrete” substances and engender no dispute, such as “apple.” There are few who would confuse apples with pears. However, it is undeniable that many highly “abstract” and “conceptual” words are also used in our daily linguistic practices, such as “thought” and “virtue,” along with those that are harder to define, such as the aforementioned “mind” or “mental activity.” Moreover, there are other words that seem familiar and specific; yet, their material realities have always been questioned. Examples of this category would include “light,” “time,” “space,” etc. In trying to prove that every word indicates a being of matter, we may argue that the referents of those hi