作为中国哲学“四大主潮”之一的新儒家哲学——方东美评宋明理学

Thomé H. Fang on Song–Ming Neo-Confucianism

方东美将宋明理学划分为"唯实主义的新儒学""唯心主义的新儒学"和"自然主义的新儒学"三个流派,探讨了这三派之间见解歧异的原因。他认为,宋明理学的理论归趣主要表现在两方面,即"归趣孔、孟、荀之古典传承"和"染上了一层道家及佛学色彩"。他批评宋明理学家"固执于道德理性"和"执着于道统观念",尤其严厉地批评理学家维护儒家道统的"固陋狭隘"心态。但是在批评宋儒的同时,方东美提出宋明理学是中国哲学"四大主潮"之一,并且高度肯定其对于中国哲学形上学的巨大贡献。方东美之所以将原始儒家哲学与宋明新儒家哲学分别置论,将宋明新儒家哲学视为相对独立的领域而列为中国哲学的"四大主潮"之一,根本原因在于他十分赞同宋明新儒家在实际上对于道家思想和佛家思想采取的包容、吸纳态度。

Thomé H. Fang divided Song–Ming Neo-Confucianism into 'realistic,' 'idealistic,' and 'naturalistic' schools and clarified the reason for the differences across the three schools. Song–Ming Neo-Confucianism not only inherits the classical Confucianism reformulated by Confucius, Mencius, and Xunzi but also adds a Buddhist and Daoist flavor to Confucianism. Fang seriously criticized Neo-Confucians for their obstinacy on moral reason and daotong(the orthodox Confucian way), particularly their parochial and narrowminded privileging of daotong. However, he also positioned Neo-Confucianism as one of the four intellectual pillars of Chinese philosophy and highly praised its great contributions to Chinese metaphysics. Fang appreciated Neo-Confucians' tolerance toward Daoist and Buddhist thought and explored Neo-Confucian philosophy seperately and independently from early Confucianism.