The distinction between gong (skill) and fa (technique) is ubiquitous in Chinese martial arts. Utilizing Maurice Merleau-Ponty's notion of 'embodied intentionality', I examine this distinction. I draw specific examples of the kinds of skills under discussion from a particular style of taijiquan-Hong Chuan Chen Shi taijiquan (Master Hong Junsheng's transmission of Chen taiji boxing)-and I argue that understanding taijiquan in terms of embodied intentionality allows us to understand important taijiquan concepts such as chansijin, yin, and yang. Although in this article I focus on one specific style of martial art, I argue that the general analysis of the gong-fa distinction based on embodied intentionality is widely applicable.
The contemporary debate about truth is polarized between deflationists and those who offer robust accounts of truth. I present a theory of truth called 'Primitive Disclosive Alethism' that occupies the middle ground between these two extremes. Contrary to deflationist claims, truth has a nature beyond its merely linguistic, expressive function. Truth is objective and non-epistemic, yet cannot be characterized in terms of correspondence. Primitive Disclosive Alethism offers a metaphysically satisfying explanation of our correspondence intuitions, while explaining why the concept of truth is an undefined primitive. The theory also explains why the T-schema offers the clearest expression of what makes a sentence true. I distinguish this theory from the Identity Theory of Truth which equates true propositions with facts.
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