本书对中国先秦时期儒、道、法、墨、名、兵、阴阳、农等各家的哲学思想，结合其时代背景进行了阐释和分析，并以批评的眼光考察了各家理论建构的得失及其社会历史作用。本书还对“中国哲学”的范畴及其中国传统思维与近代科学的关系提出了自己的论点。

Introduction

Chapter One: Confucius and the Confucian School

Chapter Two: Mo Zi and the Mohist School

Chapter Three: The Mohist School and the Traditional Mode of Thinking

Chapter Four: The Hundred Schools (1)

Chapter Five: The Hundred Schools (2)

Chapter Six: Xun Zi

Chapter Seven: The Taoist School

Chapter Eight: The Legalists

Epilogue: The Traditional Mode of Thinking and Its Modernization