Abstract

Laws of nature are often considered to have played a crucial role in the development of modern science and continue to attract discussions in contemporary philosophy. Is there a similar idea developed in Chinese traditions? Despite its evident significance, there has not been much discussion on this question since Needham (1951) and Bodde (1979). Needham’s answer is no, and one of his main reasons is that China lacks the idea of a divine celestial lawgiver imposing order on natural phenomena; Bodde largely agrees with him. In this paper, I explain why Needham’s arguments are problematic, and by examining Chinese classical texts, I argue that there is an idea of laws of nature, embodied by two notions, dao 道 and li 理.