安知鱼之乐

安知魚之樂

ānzhīyúzhīlè

phrase

Meanings

1 how do you know the joy of fish?
2 (fig., philosophical) the problem of other minds — how can we know another's inner experience?
3 (lit.) how — know — fish — 's — joy

Characters

Examples

你怎么断定他不开心？安知鱼之乐。

Nǐ zěnme duàndìng tā bù kāixīn? Ān zhī yú zhī lè.

How are you so sure he's not happy? 'How do you know the joy of fish?'

哲学课上老师讨论庄子安知鱼之乐的故事。

Zhéxué kè shàng lǎoshī tǎolùn Zhuāngzǐ ān zhī yú zhī lè de gùshì.

In philosophy class the teacher discussed Zhuangzi's 'how do you know the joy of fish?' debate.

Tips

history

From 《庄子·秋水》 (Zhuangzi, Qiushui chapter, ~4th c. BCE), the famous 濠梁之辩 (Hao River bridge debate) between Zhuangzi and Huizi: 庄子与惠子游于濠梁之上。庄子曰：鯈鱼出游从容，是鱼之乐也。惠子曰：子非鱼，安知鱼之乐？庄子曰：子非我，安知我不知鱼之乐 (Zhuangzi and Huizi strolled on the bridge over the Hao. Zhuangzi: 'the minnows swim at leisure — this is the joy of fish.' Huizi: 'you are not a fish, how do you know the joy of fish?' Zhuangzi: 'you are not me, how do you know I don't know the joy of fish?'). The canonical Chinese thought experiment on epistemic access.

usage

安 here is classical 'how? / whence?' (interrogative), not 'peace.' 之 is the attributive particle. The phrase stands on its own as a rebuttal to anyone presuming to know another's inner state.

Stroke Order

安 ān

知 zhī

鱼 yú

之 zhī

乐 lè