“五四”先贤们打起民主与科学的大旗,希冀通过启蒙国民使社会焕然一新。然而,由于时代的局限、浪漫主义的气质和专业知识的匮乏,他们传播与赞唱的民主偏离了其所吸收和学习的西学语境的原初意义。从西方政治学的框架透视,先贤们的民主观纷繁杂乱,展现给启蒙对象的则是一幅支离破碎的民主图式。这显现了他们未能寻求民主背后的理论逻辑,进而无法真切地体认到西方民主的复杂意涵。历史地看,“五四”先贤们对民主的感召意义大于民主本身的实质内涵。 The May Solemnities, who are the banners of democracy and science, hope to bring about a new society through the enlightenment of their own people. However, due to the limitations of the times, the lack of romantic temperament and professional knowledge, the democracy they spread and praise deviates from the original meaning of the Western context in which they absorbed and studied. From the perspective of Western political science, the concept of democracy in the sages is complicated and disorderly, and the image of democratization displayed to the enlightened people is a fragmented democratic schema. This shows that they have failed to seek the theoretical logic behind democracy and thus can not really recognize the complex implications of Western democracy. Historically, the significance of the “May Fourth” “sages” in calling for democracy outweighed the essence of democracy itself.