有些洋人认为，以孔子为代表的儒家，没有形而上学和认识论，主要是一些伦理和政治说教。

Will Durant在The Story of Philosophy前言中的一句话最有代表性：

The Chinese philosophers were not only averse to epistemology, they had an almost Gallic disdain for prolonged metaphysics. No young metaphysician could admit that Confucius is a philosopher, for he says nothing about metaphysics, and less about epistemology; he is as positivistic as Spencer or Comte; his concern is always for morals and the state. Worse than that, he is disreputably intelligible; and nothing could be so damaging to a philosopher. …