严复科学民主思想议略

YAN Fu's Thinking in Science and Democracy

严复的科学观内涵丰富,包括了狭义科学、广义科学、科学方法论以及科学精神等 几个不同层面的深刻理解。严复对近代民主思想理论同样作过诸多的介绍和阐发,涉及到天赋 人权论、民权说、平等自由说、法制建设学说、社会进化论等方面,其理论视野之开阔非当时人所 能望其项背。更可贵的是,严复用自己的语言较早提出并阐述了科学与民主并举的思想,成为五 四新文化运动高举科学、民主两面大旗的先驱。严复关于科学、民主以及科学与民主并举的思 想,表现了他在近代新学方面的高深造诣,标志着国人对科学、民主认识的新高度,为中国近代新 文化的形成奠基了重要的思想基础。

YAN Fu's scientific views have abundant meaning, including science in the narrow sense, in the broad sense, the methodology and spirit. Meanwhile, he also introduced and expounded modern democracy theories, such as nature-born human rights, civil rights, equality freedom, legal system construction, social evolution and others, all of which display a broad theoretical field of view that outstands in his time. More estimably, he proposed and elaborated in his own way the ideas of simultaneous practice of science and democracy, which became pioneer in the May-Fourth Movement that advocates science and democracy. Therefore, YAN's thoughts not only manifest his profound attainments in new sciences, but also promote the mass's understanding up to a new level, thus founded an important ideological basis for the formation of the modern new culture.