There are two thesis in “the White Horse Dialogue”; ⓐ Separation &
cohesion of substance & attribute, “esse est percipi” (To be is to be perceived),
Attributes are perceived, whereas the substance is not perceived. ⓑ Two
argumentations by syllogism, which are false. Moreover, at that time, people
did not know syllogism, and also they did not appreciate syllogism as means of
a valid argument. Syllogistic argument did not touch the philosophical
implications of proposition “White Horse is Not Horse”. Because of this clumsy
syllogism, Gongsun Long could not persuade or prevail over his antagonists. On
the contrary, he was attacked by them in terms of a syllogism.
But on the other hand, there is a important metaphysical & epistemological
significance in the ⓐ substance – attribute argument.
Antagonist; When I perceive the attributes, then the substance which contains
them must come to me automatically. Attributes can not be in existence alone
by itself. They must be attached to substance. Thus attributes and substance are
divided, but are combined at the same time. Substance takes and establishes the
attributes,
Gongsun Long: “Esse est percipi.” - To be is to be perceived. We can
perceive the attributes such as white, red, yellow, etc. But we can not perceive
the ‘horse itself’ (substance) without such attributes. Since we reach the
conclusion that the attributes only exist. There is no such relation as separation
& cohesion of substance & attributes. It is a radical empiricism.
Separation of attributes in Chapter V “On Hardness and Whiteness” is on the
basis of “The White Horse Dialogue”, which lays the foundation of yin yang
& the Five Agents theory in Chapter IV “Understanding the Change”.