Truth HQ by Tom Wallace - HTML preview

T R U T H H Q

5. The White Horse

An ancient Chinese philosopher gives early warning of the pitfalls of Western thought.

An ancient Chinese philosopher, Kung-Sun Lung, once said, ‘a white horse is not a horse.’ Now I don’t know if this was simply a one-off mysterious statement by Kung-Sun, or if he was in the habit of saying such things on a regular basis. And likewise, I don’t know how it was received by his contemporaries – whether he was regarded as a sage or as something of a fruitcake. But I want to unpack the saying a bit, because – whilst it may appear, at first, inconsequential – in fact it strikes a devastating blow to Western philosophy, science and religion. How so? you may wonder.

Well, here’s how.

At first strike, Kung-Sun might simply have meant that there are no truly white horses. Of course, this is surely true. But the real

explanation – and true power – of the statement lies a little deeper.

Take that word ‘white’. This is what we describe as a ‘universal’. A universal is not a mysterious thing – at least in theory. Adjectives – like

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