湛甘泉對《大學》之詮釋是基於其以「隨處體認天理」為宗旨的心學理論，他提出「格物」是《大學》之宗旨，以「至其理」解「格物」，認為「格物」即是「隨處體認天理」，是一切工夫。甘泉的「格物」是兼知行、合內外的道德工夫，求知必須要在道德理性的統率下進行。「隨處體認天理」可濃縮為「格物」二字，故甘泉之學可稱為「格物教」。正德年間，陽明與甘泉展開了格物之辯，辯論原因是二人在不同層面強調格物範圍及沒有全面、細緻地理解對方的「心」、「意」、「內」、「外」等概念。辯論促進了陽明致良知教之建構，陽明的致良知教在嘉靖初年逐漸成熟，其格物說有了新的發展，甘泉指出的念頭正與不正何以為據之問題在陽明晚年文獻中得到了回答。

Zhan Ganquan’s interpretation of the meaning of The Great Learning is based on his mind theory with the purpose of “understanding Li everywhere”. He put forward that “recognizing things” is the purpose of The Great Learning, understood “recognizing things” with “to its Li”, and believed that “recognizing things” is “understanding Li everywhere”, which is all practice. Ganquan’s “recognizing things” is a moral practice of knowing and doing both inside and outside. He believed that seeking knowledge must be carried out under the command of moral rationality. The six characters formula of “understanding Li everywhere” can be condensed into the word “recognizing things”, so Ganquan’s learning can be called “teaching of recognizing things”. During the Zhengde period, Yangming and Ganquan launched a debate on the scope of recognizing things. The reason for the debate was that they emphasized the scope of recognizing things at different levels and did not fully and carefully understand the other party’s concepts of “heart”, “idea”, “inside” and “outside”. The debate promoted the construction of Yangming’s “teaching of attaining conscience”. Yangming’s “teaching of attaining conscience” gradually matured in the early years of Jiajing, and his theory of recognizing things had a new development. The question of what is the basis for the judgment of positive and negative ideas pointed out by Gan Quan has been answered in the literature of the late years of Yangming Dynasty.