基於現代邏輯的中國古代邏輯研究至少可追溯自20世紀六○年代。時至今日，該研究進路已經得到多數中國邏輯史研究者的提倡和運用，其原因一方面是中國古代邏輯研究的自身發展，即西方傳統邏輯不足以研究中國古代邏輯史料，而需藉助現代邏輯；另一方面則是受到西方邏輯史研究的啟示。其研究方法通常是先將中國古代文本中的論證符號化，然後藉助現代邏輯規則完整地表述其中隱含的論證過程。對於〈白馬論〉所作的不同的符號化處理表明該方法依賴於研究者對文本的理解。該研究進路有助於傳播現代邏輯，並推動現代邏輯理論的發展，但是否有助於理解中國古代文本及其論證則需具體討論。

Studying ancient Chinese logic under the framework of modern logic can be traced back to the 1960s. Over past decades or so, this approach has been widely advocated and employed by many researchers. The reason for proposing this new approach, on one hand, is a result of the development of ancient Chinese logic studies. Scholars have realized that ancient Chinese logic is incomprehensible under the methodology of western traditional logic. On the other hand, ancient Chinese logic studies were inspired a lot by the studies of history of western logic. The general procedure of studying ancient Chinese logic under this approach is as follows: first, formalizing the arguments in the text, second, representing the complete process of arguments using the modern logic rules. Different ways of formalizing the arguments in the “Discourse on White-Horse” showing in the current paper demonstrates this approach depends on researchers’ understanding of the texts. This approach serves as a way to spread modern logic and will contribute to the development of modern logic. Furthermore, whether it is helpful in the understanding of the ancient Chinese text as well as its arguments was discussed in the present paper.