简议哲学史与思想史之别——兼与葛兆光先生商榷

On the Difference between the History of Philosophy and the History of Thought:a Discussion with Prof. Ge Zhaoguang

在20世纪的中国学术界,哲学史与思想史一直是两个并行且时时为人们所互借互用的概念。造成这一现象的原因,一方面是因为"哲学"这一概念本来就是从西方引进的,因而称哲学史为思想史似乎也就包含着对民族传统的某种坚持;另一方面,由于哲学史与思想史往往要面对同一对象,因而二者在外延上又存在着的大小之别,所以哲学史与思想史似乎又存在于不同的取材范围之间。实际上,哲学史与思想史虽然要面对同一对象,但其区别则主要在于不同的研究视角、解读方法与不同的诠释方向上;哲学的概念虽然源自西方,但哲学的方法却并不为西方所独有,而是中国传统文化中本来就存在的。所以,以思想史取代哲学史或刻意回避哲学史性质的研究,既不是历史主义立场,也不是真正的民族主义立场。

In the halls of twentieth century Chinese academia , the 'history of philosophy' and the 'history of thought' have been two parallel concepts,sometimes even being used interchangeably.On the one hand,the concept of 'philosophy' is a Western one,so calling the history of philosophy 'the history of thought' seems to maintain a certain notion of national tradition;on the other hand,as the history of philosophy and the history of thought often deal with the same object, only differing from each other in range and scope,the history of philosophy and the history of thought seem posses similar parameters of discussion.In reality, although the history of philosophy and the history of thought have the same object of their research,the differences between them mainly lie in their different perspectives,methods of analysis,and approaches to interpretation.Although the concept of philosophy as an academic discipline originates from the West,the idea of researching the nature and history of thought has always existed in China.Hence ,the studies which substitute the history of thought for the history of philosophy have neither historical nor cultural justification.