先秦道家，無論是老子或莊子，其學說都是就文化問題深切反省，或就生命存在感受憂患，基本上都是一種具體而真切的實感，實感實證，發而為言，其言亦是對應當下存在之機而作的啟發性指點，故其言說都是一種應機性的權說，而其學說思想亦充滿著實踐的旨趣。魏晉人物則擅長持論，其在學術上卓然有成。有關對老、莊、易談辯之內容，皆可以「名理」稱之。而名理者，並非今日所謂的「邏輯」或「論理學」之意，它的意涵應該是「理論」或「義理」，更切當地說，它是一種見解透闢，析理深微，且談辯無礙的談言。其所注《道德經》、《周易》、《莊子》，實則一方面使經典古籍之義理燦然明晰；另一方面建構出道家的圓教思想體系。從應機權說到如理實說乃是本文析論老子與王弼在表意方式上的綱架，其亦是先秦道家到魏晉玄學在方法論上的衍進。

　　　　　Pre-Chin Taoists, including Lao Tze and Chuang Tze, reflected a feeling of immediate existence on both culture and life. These reflections were expressed by language, which used then as expedient measures for the heuristic guidance of life and its practical meaning. However, Taoists of the Wei-Jin Dynasties were different from the pre-Chin ones in the sense that they used arguments rather than reflections, interpreting the Classics such as Lao Tze, Zuang Tze, and I Ching. These arguments are called Ming Li, which should not be understood as logic, but as theory, or more precisely as profound theorization. Wang Bi is a representation of this trend. His interpretations of the Classics not only show the profundity of ancient thought but also construt a new approach of systematic thought. By contrasting Lao Tze with Wang Bi, we can see how the understanding of life has been evolved from the way of immediate reflections to that of mediated theorization.