Western Philosophy of History and Confucianism

中西史學思想之比較－以西方歷史哲學與儒家思想為中心

Georg G. Iggers ； 王晴佳(Q. Edward Wang)

《臺大歷史學報》 27期 (2001/06) Pp. 21-35

https://doi.org/10.6253/ntuhistory.2001.27.02

摘要

本文試圖對中西史學觀念作一比較研究，特別注意這些觀念產生的文化背景、源流及其變化。在中西的文化傳統中，並沒有一個單一的歷史哲學或儒家思想史學的傳統，我們無法對之做「同質化」的處理。譬如在中國，秦漢的儒學與宋明理學便有明顯的不同，而在西方，歷史觀念在不同的歷史時期也採用了不同的形式。因此，我們不應用目的論的方法，用現代的眼光解釋過去。從總體而言，中西史學的觀念有三個不同特點。第一是宗教觀念的不同。與儒家思想尊重「三代」的作法相反，西方由於受猶太教與基督教的影響，認為歷史的演變有其目的，到了現代也就轉化成一種歷史進步的觀念。其次，史學發展的政治社會背景也有很大的不同。中國史學的傳統常常與統治者有較緊密的聯繫，而西方多私人治史，所以更俱批評性和多元性。複次，西方的史學觀念較早崇尚邏輯思維和理性思維，而科學史學在中國，則在現代有了長足的發展。

關鍵字

歷史學 ； 史學觀念 ； 儒家思想 ； 歷史哲學 ； 史學史 ； 比較史學

並列摘要

In order to compare ideas of history in different cultures, one must consider the cultural traditions from which these ideas originated and developed. Insofar as Chinese and Western cultures are concerned, it is necessary that we do not ”essentialize” either Western or Confucian philosophy of history. In China, for example, there was a clear distinction between classical Confucianism and Neo-Confucianism; whereas, in the West, ideas of history took different forms in different historical periods. We must therefore avoid the teleological approach, which tends to characterize past historical culture from a modern perspective. Nevertheless, we might still be able to posit three major differences between Chinese and Western ideas of history. The first is religious. Unlike Confucianism that searches for an ideal past, Judeo-Christian tradition believes in the fulfillment of history, which was translated into the idea of progress in the modern age. The second is about the socio-political influence in historical writing. In contrast to the Chinese tradition in which history was often an official enterprise, Western historiography appeared more pluralistic and critical. The third is that in the Western tradition, systematic logic and rational thinking characterized its conception of history, whereas in China, rational and scientific, thinking is more or less a modern development in historiography.

並列關鍵字

history ； ideas of history ； Confucianism ； philosophy of history ； historiography ； comparative historiography

參考文獻

PeterBurke,Burke(1999).Westliches Geschichtsdenken, Eine interkulturelle Debatte.

Benjamin A.Elman,Elman(1984).From Philosophy to Philosophy: Intellectual and Social Aspects of Change in late Imperial China.

Gardiner, Charles S.(1961).Chinese Traditional Historiography.

Georg G.Iggers,Iggers(1997).Historiography in the Twentieth Century: From Scientific Objectivity to the Postmodern Challenge.

Koselleck, Reinhard(1985).Futures Past: On the Semantics of Historical Time.