本文從關切儒家最初的孔子仁學出發，分析其中的形上性與經驗性兩類思維屬性，前者主要是指其天道論，後者則指向其與人倫日用相關的文本；以哲學史言，此種區分與孔子後孟、荀的性善與性惡兩大儒學系統各自所偏重的不同屬性有密切關係。此兩屬性，原本皆涉及儒家體系中激勵人心的作用如何可能、有關其根源的尋覓；但卻因理論中天道形上思維的與經驗差異，進而在荀子之後，形成春秋與戰國、儒家與法家理念的重大差異，本文將對此思想變化的脈絡提出分析。在結構方面，將透過了孔荀二人論「仁」之差異分析，以及「仁」與「禮」等儒學核心概念之基礎的探討，指出孔荀仁學系統下的天道思想與經驗思維的不同；進而再提出對比與反思，檢討仁學中有那些因素可提供吾人充足的道德實踐動機，同時，亦對傳統形上的天道論受到當代科學與經驗思維之批判情形重新加以探討。

Beginning with Confucius’s initial doctrine of benevolence (ren), this article analyzes the attributes of its metaphysical thought and experiential thought, as the former refers to its doctrine of the heavenly way, and the latter refers to the daily application of the principles of human relationships. From the perspective of the history of philosophy, such a distinction is closely related to the post-Confucius emphases on the goodness and evilness of human nature, made respectively by Mengzi and Xunzi. These two attributes were both originally concerned with the possibilities and sources of how to encourage the minds of human beings. However, due to the distinction between the metaphysical thinking and the experiential thinking, after the time of Xunzi, such a distinction made all the major differences between the Confucianism and Legalism during the Spring-Autumn period and the Warring-State period, and this article is to analyze the context of such a change in thinking. Structure-wise, we will point to the distinctions between Confucius’s thought about the heavenly way and Xunzi’s thought about experiences through discussing the differences between Confucius’s and Xunzi’s ideas of benevolence and exploring such fundamental concepts of Confucianism as benevolence (ren) and rites (li). Then we will present some contrasts and reflections, inspecting what elements in the doctrine of benevolence could motivate one’s moral practice, while reviewing also how scientific and experiential thinking criticize the traditional and metaphysical doctrine of the heavenly way.