白马非马

白色的马不是马。“白马非马”是名家提出的一个重要命题，公孙龙子对这个命题进行了充分的讨论。他认为，“马”之名是用来指称马的形体的，而“白”之名是用来指称白色的。“白马”兼指马与白，因此与“马”所指称的是不同的事物。“白马非马”的命题意在指出，“马”之名无法精确指示马之中的白马、黄马、黑马所具有的特殊性。为了准确指称事物，就需要对名做出细致的辨析。

A White Horse Is Not a Horse

This is an important proposition made by the School of Names. Gongsun Longzi discussed this thesis in great detail. In his view, "horse" is a name for the physical body of a horse, where as "white" is the name for white color. "White horse" refers both to "horse" and "white" and therefore is not the same thing as that which isreferred to as "horse". The proposition that "a white horse is not a horse" is meant to point out that the name "horse" can't accurately refer to the particular characteristics of white, brown and black horses. More careful differentiation is necessary in order to indicate an object precisely.