陳白沙思想以自然為宗，明代朱子學者對其有詳盡的批評；而陽明學派聶豹與王畿、甚至劉宗周中年與晚年兩個階段，對陳白沙「自然」思想則有不同的認知與評價，從而分別展開複雜的思想辨析。由此，明代朱子學派與陽明學派圍繞白沙展開的理論辨析，構造出自然之辨的獨特思想論域。本文通過對於明代「自然」之辨的理論辨析，探討「心」作為一個哲學概念的多重思想蘊涵。一方面，明代自然之辨釐清了作為天道機制、存有與政教秩序的諸面向，能夠豐富和擴展吾人對於心體概念的理解。另一方面，白沙思想中作為天道機制的自然，陽明思想中作為存有的自然，與劉宗周、黃宗羲思想中作為政教秩序的自然，這三個層面的自然之辨在時間上先後發生，而在義理上則是結合明代心學發展和社會政治狀況的變化而呈現逐層深入的態勢。總而言之，通過明代自然之辨獲得新的觀察角度和研究視野，深入理解明代心學思潮的多層次義蘊，如心學與政教秩序之間的複雜關聯等等，是本文研究的意義所在。

Chen Baisha’s philosophy is based on natural thought. Zhu Xi school and Yang Ming School in the Ming Dynasty constructed a unique ideological domain through the theoretical analysis of Baisha philosophy. Through the theoretical analysis of this field of thought, this paper explores the multi-level connotation of “Mind” as a philosophical concept. Specifically, it can be divided into three aspects: the nature as the mechanism of heaven in Baisha’s thought, the nature as being in Yangming’s thought, and the nature as the political edification order in Liu Zongzhou’s and Huang Zongxi’s thought. These three levels of connotation, combined with the historical development of Ming Dynasty, present a gradually deepening trend. The research of this paper provides another perspective and interpretation space for the understanding of the philosophy of the mind in Ming Dynasty, which has unique significance.