至少自20世紀以降，社會研究者便在社會世界的構成元素、認 識方式、以及研究方法等層面上，形成「實證主義」與「闡釋主義」 兩個對立陣營。無庸諱言，在當代的社會科學研究領域中，「實證主 義」乃是獨領風騷的學術主流，而長期與之對峙的「闡釋主義」，則 顯現出欲振乏力的窘境。促使「闡釋主義」陷入這種窘境的原因，固 然是多方面的，但通常探取概括式的籠統論述與使用一些含意模糊的 專門術語，則是其中的主要理由。
有鑑於此，本文企圖透過Peter Winch重要著作的詳細解析，而 來論述闡釋主義的精敏論證，並釐清一些關鍵術語的重要含意，尤其 更要指出「闡釋方法」不僅是「發現系絡」中的一種心理技巧，而且 也是「驗證系絡」中一種重要的有用方法。為了能夠達成此一目的， 本文的論述，將從「意義與意圖」、「意義與規則」、「意義與闡釋」等 三個主要層面，逐一進行。

Since the 20th century, there are two opposing positions in the social sciences, positivism and inetrpretivism, debated about the nature of composition element of the social world, ways of knowing social reality, and appropriate approaches for social study. In the social studies of nowadays, positivism is an academic mainstream on the cusp, and inetrpretivism display the weak awkward situation. No doubt, the reasons of downfall of inetrpretivism are many, but adopting the touch-and-go type of discourse and using some ambiguous terminology are its main reason.
In view of this, by analyzing the works of Peter Winch, this article attempts to examine the exquisite argumentations of inetrpretivism, to clarify the important meaning of some key words and phrases ,and especially to point out the method of interpretation is not only a method in the context of discovery but also a method in the context of justification. Analyzing meaning and intention, meaning and rule, meaning and interpretation will do this investigation.