论大陆学界荀子名学本质之研究及其反思

On the Study of the Essence of Xunzi's Theory of Names in China's Mainland Academic Circles and Its Reflection

在先秦时期,除了名家和墨家之外,在名学研究方面,其成就最大的当属荀子。荀子对于先秦名学之主要贡献是进一步批判和发展名家和墨辩之名学,使儒家之名学更加严谨。然而,历来有关荀子之研究多着眼于其心、性、天、礼等之探讨,而疏于抉发其名学之义蕴。直到近年来,由于大陆学界积极挖掘中国古代之逻辑思想,以免西方逻辑专美于前,于是有关中国逻辑史或逻辑思想之论著,如雨后春笋般出现。此等有关中国逻辑论著之研究对象主要为先秦时期讨论名实辩说之篇章,尤其是公孙龙、墨辩和荀子名学之研究。此外,由于一些国外学者之参与,使得中国古代逻辑之研究,尤其是关于荀子名学之研究,如今已成一较为普遍之现象。目前对于荀子名学本质之探讨,其中最重要之问题是荀子之名学是否即等同于西方亚里士多德(Aristotle,384-322B.C.)所创之传统逻辑(traditional logic)或形式逻辑(formal logic)。虽然,大陆学界大多主张荀子之名学即等同于西方之逻辑,然而,学者皆未予以明确之说明或证明。因此,有关荀子名学本质之看法,实有待厘清,否则,将影响吾人对荀子名学之确切理解与把握,此外将对此一议题予以反思,并提出未来可能之研究发展方向。

During the Pre-Qin period, except for the School of Names （Mingjia） and the Mohist School （Mojia）, the most important figure in the study of the theory of names was Xunzi. Xunzi＇s major contribution to the theory of names in the Pre-Qin times was to criticize and further develop the Mingiia and Mojias＇ theory of names as well as to inherit and develop sufficiently Confucius＇ doctrine of rectifying names.However, for centuries scholars in the study of Xunzi did not explore his theory of names, but mostly emphasized to study such ideas as mind, human nature, heaven and rites. Both Chinese and foreign scholars did not pay attention to the study of Xunzi＇s theory of names until recent years. Although they have made contribution to the study of Xunzi＇s theory of names, they could not assess properly Xunzi＇s theory of names, for they were short of qualitative analysis in Xunzi＇s theory of names, that is, scholars did not manifest or verify if Xunzi s theory of names was identified to Western logic. Hence, if we could not solve the problems mentioned above, we might not comprehend properly the meaning of Xunzi＇s theory of names in the Pre-Qin intellectual history. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to explore thoroughly the essence of Xunzi＇s theory of names in order to manifest its meaning and then to expound the possible research orientation in the future study.