辜鴻銘（1857－1928）受到英哲馬修．阿諾德（Matthew Arnold, 1822－1888）的影響甚深，若吾人閱讀他對《大學》之「三綱」之英譯，即可看出端倪。阿諾德對文化有兩個觀點：其一為「根源為好奇心的文化」；其二為「根源為完美之愛的文化」。受此影響，辜氏遂將「明明德」譯為“to bring out the intelligent moral power ”，將「新民」譯為“to make a new and better society ”，將「止於至善」譯為“to abide in the highest excellence ”。此外，他還援引阿諾德的言論來注解「明明德」與「止於至善」的譯文。然而，尤其值得注意的是，辜氏將「明德」譯為“the intelligent moral power ”，此舉不但將「德」看待為一種「力量」，更表示有「理智」的成分存乎「德」之中。因此，吾人可以如此斷言，即辜鴻銘有同時從知識論（epistemology）與道德論的角度來看待《大學》「進德修業」進程的傾向。這種傾向形成了一種以知識完成道德實踐的主張。這種主張存在於上述「三綱」的譯文之中，也存在於「八條目」的譯文裡。
Ku Hung-ming was deeply influenced by Matthew Arnold. We can assure this, if we read the translation of 三綱. Arnold had two ideas about the culture: one is ”having its origin in curiosity” and the other is ”having its origin in the love of perfection.” Being influenced by this, Ku then translates 明明德as ”to bring out the intelligent moral power,” and translates 止於至善 as ”to abide in the highest excellence.” Besides, he still quoted the discourse to annotate the translation of 明明德and 止於至善. Nevertheless, there is one thing we want to pay attention to is that Ku translates 明德 as ”the intelligent moral power.” This not only means that he regarded 德 as a power, but also means that he asserted that there was an element of ”intelligence” hidden in 德. According to this, we can affirm that Ku Hung-ming inclined to look upon the process of ”education in character and knowledge” from the points of view of epistemology and moralism simultaneously. Such an inclination forms an assertion of practicing morals via knowledge. We can see this assertion exists in the translation of 三綱and also in the translation of 八條目.
