Morality Versus Science: The Two Cultures Discourse in 1950s Taiwan

This article discusses the conflict that broke out between the Taiwanese Positivists and New Confucians in 1950s Taiwan. Opposing views on science, tradition, Chinese culture, and Western culture led to a series of debates, which yielded significant impacts on Taiwanese society. After several previous studies, I reexamine the conflict and how it played out, concluding that its historical significance is twofold. First, both Positivists and New Confucians had no effect on the scientific industrialization of Taiwan but had political, cultural, and social effects. Second, the debates constructed a Taiwanese version of C.P. Snow's "two cultures"—a morally humanistic Chinese culture contrasting with a positivistic scientific Western culture. These served as the historical prototype for later formulations of the two cultures.