理论研究与实证探讨的基本区别——以古史探索为例

The Basic Difference between Theoretical Research and Empirical Discussion: Taking the Exploration of Ancient History as an Example

人文学界(尤其是广义史学界)在相当程度上存在着一种认同,认为就方法而言,理论研究主要遵循演绎原则,实证探讨主要遵循归纳原则。受此认识的影响,不少研究者在理论探索中经常有意无意忽略归纳法的作用。这种认识与这种做法是错误的。归纳法是这两种研究共同采用的基础方法。它们之间的基本区别,不在于方法上前者使用演绎后者使用归纳,而在于研究对象的规模及其把握程度尤其由此导致的研究结论的确定性。具体言之,理论研究对象的规模通常远大于实证探讨的,因而对其把握的程度远低于后者的,由此导致研究结论的确定性往往难于与后者的相比并。而正是这三种基本区别,使得理论研究的方法衍生出来自己的许多特点。

It has been acknowledged in the humanities(especially historiography in a broad sense)that,in terms of methods,theoretical research mainly follows deductive principles,and empirical research mainly follows inductive principles.Under its influence,many researchers often intentionally or unintentionally ignore the role of induction in theoretical exploration.This kind of understanding and approach is wrong.Induction is the basic method adopted by both research modes.The basic difference is not about the use of deduction or induction,but about the scale of the research object and the degree of grasp that affects the certainty of research results.Specifically,the scale of theoretical research objects is usually much larger than that of empirical research,so the degree of grasping them is much lower than that of the latter,and thus the certainty of the research results is often difficult to compare with the latter.It is the three basic differences that make the theoretical research method generate many characteristics of its own.