Yan Fu is a famous enlightenment thinker of modern China. Being ahead of his time, Yan studied Western science to find the truth. He emphasized science and advocated the development of scientific thought. At the same time, he had a unique view on the relationship between science and philosophy. His thought came mainly from the West, but he also possessed a deep understanding of Chinese traditional ideas. In the crisis of the destruction of the nation, Yan Fu emphasized the self-consciousness. However, some of the traditional Chinese ideas were closely associated with the collective consciousness of the Chinese people. He held that if these ideas are not changed the future of the Chinese people would be bleak. Therefore, he suggested that Chinese ideology and culture should be liberated from the bondage of traditional metaphysics. He also urged that Chinese people should modernize their traditional thought and respond to social demands by using scientific method and experiential knowledge. 嚴復是近代中國著名的啟蒙思想家，是向西方尋找真理的先進人物之一。他 曾提出重視科學、發展科學的思想，同時，他對科學與哲學的關係有著獨特的見 解。他的思想淵源主要來自西方，但同時他對中國傳統思想有一定的了解。 嚴復認爲面對民族存亡之危機，人的自覺是最重要的，但中國傳統思想中的一 些觀念始終困擾著人們的整個思想和意識，如果不改變這種觀念，就不能營救中華 民族和國家的未來。所以他首先要把中國的思想與文化從傳統形而上學與玄學的束 縛中盡快解放出來，並且運用科學方法和經驗知識，一方面進行中國傳統思想近代 化，另一方面服膺於社會現實的要求。 嚴復向傳統“天道”觀念進行新的解釋。他通過傳統天道觀念的重釋，建造以西 方科學爲基礎的本體論思想，而且以理性原則會通科學和其它領域之知識。他的“天” 是“自然而然”的天，但他所謂“自然而然”的含義是模糊的、多重的。所以他設定兩種 天道、人道關係。他一方面根據“天演之道”，主張“任天爲治”，這樣天道和人道是貫 通的。但另一方面，他主張“以人持天”，這樣，天道和人道是對立的。任天爲治，是要 肯定進化法則的普遍性，以此提醒中國人直視民族危機；而以人持天則要強調人治 之功，是要肯定人類道德的重要性，以此給中國以救亡和民族復興的希望。 嚴復是最早將科學作爲一種價值體系來接受的中國人。他翻譯赫胥黎《天演 論》和宣揚社會達爾文主義，從內容上爲科學主義的産生奠定了重要基礎。嚴復展 示了自己整個思想的一個中心宗旨，即以理性原則會通科學和其它領域之知識，亦 即將“思議”與“不可思議”會通爲一。他的思想雖然包含著經驗主義的不可知論的傾 向，但他在晚清對中國科學主義産生的推動力則是不容忽視的，而且還久遠地發生 著影響。

Yan Fu is a famous enlightenment thinker of modern China. Being ahead of his time, Yan studied Western science to find the truth. He emphasized science and advocated the development of scientific thought. At the same time, he had a unique view on the relationship between science and philosophy. His thought came mainly from the West, but he also possessed a deep understanding of Chinese traditional ideas. In the crisis of the destruction of the nation, Yan Fu emphasized the self-consciousness. However, some of the traditional Chinese ideas were closely associated with the collective consciousness of the Chinese people. He held that if these ideas are not changed the future of the Chinese people would be bleak. Therefore, he suggested that Chinese ideology and culture should be liberated from the bondage of traditional metaphysics. He also urged that Chinese people should modernize their traditional thought and respond to social demands by using scientific method and experiential knowledge. Yan Fu is the first Chinese to accept science as a value system. He translated Thomas Henry Huxley’s Evolution and Ethics (Tianyan lun 天演論) and promoted the theory of social evolution (shehui jinhua lun 社會進化論). Through this work, he provided the theoretical basis for the emergence of “scientism.” He promoted mutual understanding of scientific knowledge and the knowledge of other disciplines, and pursued compatibility of the “comprehensible” (siyi 思議) and the “incomprehensible” (buke siyi 不可思議). Although his thought contained an element of agnosticism (bukezhi lun 不可知論), he exerted a great influence on the birth of Chinese Scientism in the late Qing dynasty.

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scientism, ontology, evolution and ethics, incomprehensible, metaphysics, mutual understanding