从制度儒学到国家的观念史——评干春松的两本新著

From Institutionalized Confucianism to the History of the Idea of the State: An Overview of Two Approaches and Methodologies in the History of Political Thought

如果说《儒学的近代转型》着眼于儒学在制度化儒家解体之后的现代命运问题,《理想的国度——近代中国思想中的国家观念》则是以儒家的政治哲学为本位思考近代国家制度建构问题。两部书共同构成了制度儒学的完整面貌。不过这两部书之间存在着思想史研究路径和方法上的差异。《理想的国度——近代中国思想中的国家观念》摆脱了知识社会学和历史社会学方法论的影响,完成了从“历史的思想史”到“思想的思想史”的回归,从而进一步揭示出了现代儒学研究的另一种可能。

The Modern Transformation of Confucianism focuses on the question of the modern fate of Confucianism after the disintegration of its traditional institutionalized form. The Ideal State: Ideas of Nation in Modem Chinese Thanght considers the question of the construction of the modern state in the light of the political philosophy of Confucianism. Together,the two books constitute a complete picture of institutionalized Confucianism. However,there are differences in the methods of history of thought between these two books. The Ideal State is free from the influence of the sociology of knowledge,and completes the return from the “History of Thought” to the “History of Ideas”,thus further revealing another possibility for the study of modern Confucianism.