호적의 연구방법론 성립 과정, 응용 및 그 영향에 대한 고찰

Abstract

A prevalent perspective regarding “traditional Chinese and Western modernity” as a past and present, or in other words a divided historic fault line, is gradually declining. Now, academia is paying more attention to the integration process of traditional Chinese and modern Western thoughts. Through the theme of this paper, Hu Shih (胡適, 1891-1962) and research related to his research method, we also see the same trend. With regard to Hu Shih’s research method, most studies have attempted to discern how Dewey's pragmatism and traditional Chinese academic thought impacted him; less attention has been paid to show how Hu Shih initiatively chose these methodologies to develop his own research method. Furthermore, how Hu Shih used his research method in his own research works and how this may impact other major scholars are topics that still need microscopic analysis. We can see in the histories of Chinese philosophy and Chinese literature that Hu Shih’s works undoubtedly were the starting point of modern scholarship in China. However, because Hu Shih introduced the methodology of Dewey’s pragmatism (instrumentalism) into China, a lot of criticism focused on Hu Shih and his misunderstanding of the methodology of pragmatism. But, the actual content of Hu Shih’s research method and the positive social impact of related issues still require in-depth microscopic discussion and analysis. This paper will discuss the process through which Hu Shih established his research methods. For this reason, we first try to understand the functional relation between Hu Shih’s research method and Dewey’s pragmatism. We also try to understand how to apply Hu Shih’s research method to his own research works, and learn more about how his research method has impacted other famous scholars. We also have to recognize that Hu Shih's research method and the process through which it was established was not only was an integration process between Chinese and western academic tradition but also a reconstruction proposal and standard for modern Chinese academia.