哲学不是哲学史

Philosophy Is Not Its History

"哲学是哲学史"是哲学界、特别是哲学史界广为传播的一个命题。它的几种可能解释,如"哲学等于哲学史"、"哲学史是哲学的一部分"、"学习哲学史就是学习哲学"等,或者是错误的,或者表达极不严格,容易引起误解。而从语用学上考察,"哲学是哲学史"导致哲学研究以史料研究为主,哲学论文被哲学教学论文所取代。哲学的特殊性不在于它与历史的特殊关系,而在于它的题材、问题和方法。

The claim that philosophy is its history is widely accepted in the circle of philosophy in China. It has several interpretations, philosophy is equal to its history; the history of philosophy is a part of philosophy; and we learn philosophy by means of learning its history. These interpretations are either erroneous or obscure and misleading. A pragmatic examination of the claim shows that its dominance has led to the fact that the historiography of philosophy takes the place of philosophical inquiry and the essays for philosophical teaching take the place of research theses. The distinctive character of philosophy consists in its peculiar subject matter, questions and the ways of answering them rather than in its special relations with the history of philosophy.