27-c. 100

Chinese philosopher who commented on a number of scientific subjects. In his Lun-heng, Wang Ch'ung, a former official who had left office in order to pursue a career as a philosopher, criticized superstitious thinking. Departing from orthodoxy, he attacked not only Taoism, but Confucianism—by then a well-established doctrine—from a position that oriented toward rationalism and naturalism. He also described the human psyche as a purely mechanical, rather than a spiritual, construct.