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7 - The Logic of Relationality

from Part II - Relation and Relationality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2018

Yaqing Qin
Affiliation:
Foreign Affairs University, Beijing
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Summary

Chapter 7 puts forward the logic of relationality, arguing that human action is based more on relations in society. It reviews the literature on the logics of rationality and of practicality, holding that the latter enjoys ontological priority and constitutes the foundation for other logics of action to be represented. It also believes that representation is practice, too, and that what is represented by a knowledge producer cannot go beyond the practice of the community where she is embedded. It is natural, therefore, that individualistic rationality has grown out of the practice of Western cultural communities. Both the logic of consequences and the logic of appropriateness provide telling examples. In Confucian cultural communities, similarly, practices lean more toward relations among people and the logic of relationality is a spontaneous representation therein. Moreover, relationality comes before rationality, for whether or not an act is rational can only be defined in terms of relations. A "rational" act towards an enemy can be arational and even irrational if taken towards a friend.
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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