摘要
Is Confucian thought a kind of philosophy？ This question did not arise until ＂Western learning flowed to the East＂ resulting in a dramatic contrast between Oriental and Western culture and causing many people to take the West as their teacher and subordinate traditional Chinese learning to a Western framework. Especially with the growing influence of Western culture and the constant change in Chinese cultural forms, together with the gradual acceptance of Western research paradigms that are now firmly rooted in Chinese soil, the question of whether Confucian thought can be regarded as philosophy, or whether it can be granted philosophical status and included in the narrative of philosophy, has become important in considering whether Confucian thought can be elevated to the ranks of modem scholarly disciplines and thereby enjoy ＂legitimacy.＂
清末经学解体之后，儒家思想的表达方式和传播途径面临着根本性的挑战，经典的注解和叙事被现代学术的学科研究形式所取代，除了社会巨变所导致的现实意义的消解之外，儒学在思想的传递方面也遇到了空前的危机。20世纪30年代以来，熊十力、唐君毅、牟宗三等新儒家人物由哲学角度入手，对儒家思想所做的诠释，可以说是开始了一条新的理路，即在新学术的背景和分科治之的条件下，用思想阐发的形式，来重新说明儒家文化的永恒价值和深刻意义，以使其能够适应新时代的要求。这一哲学化的诠释路向不仅极大地拓展了儒家思想现代转化的空间，也为中国哲学的现代发展提供了某种典范。而那种认为儒学的哲学化研究工作过度地稀释了儒家的思想内核，想根本扭转其路向，试图重回经学形态的期盼，倒是大可商量的，也是极不现实的。
