Abstract: Under the post-modernism context, there are two contradicting theories of category and categorization: classical theory and prototype theory. The two theories disagree with each other in every essential aspect: definition, fuzziness, membership, etc. This research aims to investigate the origin of the disagreements, and to explore the possibility of their reconciliation. It has been proved that the two theories focus on different levels and stages of human categorization. Therefore, a contradiction between them is groundless. In fact, they can peacefully coexist within a larger system, playing their respective roles in human categorization.

Key words: classical theory, prototype theory, contradiction, reconciliation, word classification

摘要： 在后学背景下，存在两种几乎完全对立的范畴理论——经典理论与原型理论，这两种理论在范畴的界定、范畴的清晰性与模糊性、范畴成员地位等方面存在重大分歧。探讨两种理论之间分歧的根源以及对立消解的可能性。研究证明，两种范畴观处于人类认识系统的不同阶段、不同层次上，各自有其作用范围，不构成对立关系。两种范畴观的对立在一个更大的体系中可以消解，各自对人类认识做出应有的贡献。

关键词: 经典理论, 原型理论, 矛盾, 消解, 词类划分