Abstract:This paper advocates philosophizing Confucianism with the approach of analytic philosophy. In China, Chinese classics are taught in Chinese literature, history and philosophy departments, but philosophers need to treat the texts differently from those other disciplines. In other words, Chinese philosophers should engage with Chinese classics philosophically. To do so in the contemporary philosophical world, we need to employ Western philosophical analysis to reconstruct traditional Confucianism. The language and the topics in Western analytic philosophy may not help improve the substance of Chinese philosophy; nevertheless, but it is an indispensable tool, a language skill, which can aid communication of ideas. If Confucianism cannot get out of its inner circle and let the Western philosophical world see its diverse thinking modes and ideas, then it will not be able to draw research interest from newcomers. Only when more and more people are willing to enter the circle of Chinese philosophy will the field thrive with renewed energy. If, on the other hand, Chinese philosophers stay within their own circles, engage in discussions only with insiders, the circle of Chinese philosophy will be stagnant, constricted, and eventually become merely a decoration in some remote corner of world philosophy.
刘纪璐. 儒学哲学化的契机:以分析哲学为传统中国哲学开生面[J]. 《深圳大学学报》(人文社科版), 2016, 33(1): 5-12.
LIU Ji-lu. Revitalizing Traditional Chinese Philosophy with the Analytic Approach: The Case of “Philosophizing” Confucianism. , 2016, 33(1): 5-12.