Sage-King Naming Theory: A New Perspective on Understanding Xunzi’s Doctrine of the Rectification of Names

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

see attachment

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Comments on the Quality of English Language

As indicated in the suggestions, there are many contradictions/poor logical structure which might actually be related to stylistic problems with the author's writing. I strongly suggest the author have a native or near-native English speaker edit the article prior to re-submission.

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The bulk of the discussion is fine.

The one part that is probably better abbreviated is the last part about Kripke. The idea that language is conventional is an extremely normal idea in modern linguistics and one does not need an involved discussion of Kripke--and for that matter, hitching one's analysis of Xunzi to that--just to make sense of what Xunzi is saying. The main conceptual tension is actually this: given Xunzi's explicit view that language is conventional (remember he says that names have their meanings on account of people's customs: 名無固宜，約之以命，約定俗成謂之宜，異於約則謂之不宜。), it is a bit strange to think of any individual, whether sage king or not, as having an an authoritative role in determining the meaning of any word. This isn't a contradiction per se, but it's a tension.

Something missing = how Xunzi's zhengming relates to the idea from the Analects. I know this isn't the main focus of the paper--but it's still strange to see not even one side reference. Presumably, Xunzi wasn't just coming up with a brand new idea--he was channelling a bit of what Kongzi was saying?

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The revisions made the paper better. It's still a bit strange that there isn't even a reference to the zhengming of the Analects--a reference, not a full discussion. But I'll let that pass.