阮元的哲學觀點和方法大體上沿襲戴震，但並非戴震思想的重述。戴震思想以「理氣一本論」和「性善論」為支柱。阮元思想以「節性說」為核心。「節性說」預設「人性」以「欲」為主要內容。「性善論」以「仁」為基礎。戴震在「性善論」的基礎上肯定人天生的「欲求」，所以對「仁」與「欲」的關係有正面的說明。阮元只倡言「節性」而不談「性善」，顯然與戴震不盡相同。此外，阮元又認為儒學不涉「幽微玄遠」，所以不談「理氣」問題。由此可見，阮元思想並不能說是戴震的重複。至於方法方面，戴震和阮元都是「從訓詁以求義理」。但從訓詁的角度考察阮元的「節性說」，「節性說」並不能從阮元所舉典據的訓詁推衍出來。「從訓詁以求義理」是否可行，有待進一步的探討。

This is an attempt to scrutinize the particularities of Ruan Yuan's philosophy, both in content and in method, through a comparison of his thought and that of his predecessor Dai Zhen. The result of this examination consists of two points: firstly, in content, Ruan Yuan's philosophy is not simply a repetitionof that of Dai Zhen; secondly, in method. Ruan Yuan's understanding of the Pre-chin Confucius conception of 'ren' human nature through philology is not well-established.