儒家傳世文獻中，慎獨說見於《禮記》的〈禮器〉、〈中庸〉、〈大學〉三篇，及《荀子．不苟篇》。當代出土的《馬玉堆帛書》與〈郭店楚簡〉，其中的〈五行第〉也談到慎獨。帛書〈說〉的部分，與上述文獻的歷代注疏，對於慎獨都有所解釋。由於觀點不同，各家所述頗多出入。於是眾說紛紜，莫衷一是。本文對於歷代各家在慎獨說的解讀上，從三個層面來檢討，即文字訓詁、義理疏釋與實踐體證。據以析論各家不同的解讀，勾勒「慎獨」的多義性及其思想史上的意義；綜述各家不同的見解，分別「慎獨」在修養論與工夫論上的意涵。進而指出實踐體證在儒典解讀上的重要性。

Within the transmitted Confucian texts, the doctrine of shendu, "being watchful over one's actions, with others as well as alone," appears in works including the "Liqi," "Zhongyong" and "Daxue" chapters of the Liji, as well as in the "Bugou" chapter of the Xunzi. In addition, this doctrine appears in the "Wuxing" text in the recently excavated materials such as the Mawangdui silk manuscripts and the Guodian bamboo strips. The "Shuo" section of the Mawangdui materials and the historical commentaries on the transmitted texts all have their individual explanations of shendu. However, since their viewpoints differ, their understanding of this doctrine differs as well; no consensus is reached as yet on the meaning of shendu. This paper discusses the doctrine of shendu within each of the historical schools of thought from three aspects: its philology, its commentary, and how it is embodied in practice. An analysis of the different understandings of this doctrine in each school exposes its multiple meanings and its significance in the history of thought. A survey of the different explanations of each school shows the meaning of shendu in terms of self-cultivation. As a result, we can see the importance of this doctrine's practical embodiment in the explanation of the Confucian classics.