张岱年是“解析的唯物论”的代表, 但他的“本体”观既不同于强调解析的清华学派哲学家, 又不同于当时的新唯物论者。张岱年所谓的“本体”是“理”与“物”的统一、“本”与“至”的统一, 是总结中西“本体”观念基础上的一种综合创造。这种创造体现了张岱年超越清华学派和新唯物论的尝试。

In modern Chinese philosophy Professor Zhang Dainian was an advocate of "analytical materialism." His notion of "ultimate reality" (ben ti), however, was different from that of philosophers in Qinghua School of Realism who emphasized the importance of logical analysis on the one hand, and different from that of his contemporary New Materialists on the other. His notion of "ultimate reality" is a unity of principle (li) and matter (wu), and a unity of "the ultimate" (ben) and "the ideal" (zhi). It is a creative synthesis of various conceptions of ultimate reality in Chinese and Western philosophies. It reflects his attempt to transcend both Qinghua School of Realism and New Materialism.