Abstract
International symposium, dedicated to the topic of "correcting names" (zheng ming 正名) and its multiple repercussions throughout Chinese thought and society from antiquity to the present day, brings together a group of scholars working on different periods of Chinese history, including contemporary China, philosophy, history of ideas, literature, linguistics, anthropology, social and political studies. The relationship between names and reality has been a cardinal topic in philosophy East and West.
It is also the topic that exposes, in the most blatant way, some long-standing cross-cultural gaps in understanding. While the problem of language is traditionally framed as epistemological rather than ethical, we often find it difficult to account for the close link between names and cosmology, or names and power, made in classical Chinese texts.
With a shift of ontological perspective, the emphasis on "correct names" could be interpreted as a logical response to the need for at least provisional stability and accountability in an ever-changing world. Those who hold the power over language can use it to create, manipulate and distort reality for others.
Therefore, the problem of naming can no longer be treated separately from the questions of agency, ethics, and political power.