江户时代的经世家本多利明常被称为“开明思想家”。而美国学者唐纳德·基恩对他进行了新的定位，将本多利明描述为通过撰述《经世秘策》《西域物语》而成为“西方的发现者”或者身在日本却发现世界的“世界的发现者”。不仅如此，借助针对本多利明的研究，唐纳德·基恩还梳理了“兰学”在日本的历史，认为东洋与西洋并不只有对抗，也有相融合的过程，进而构筑起“世界认识”的新立场。唐纳德·基恩的本多利明研究提出了“日本人发现欧洲”的新论断。那么，如何认识与把握这一论断：一是不可困囿于“日本—西方（世界）”的狭隘思维；二是应该还原到“中国与日本”，或者说进一步拓展到“东亚与西方”的视角来把握本多利明的“发现”，西方绝不是所谓的“世界”，只是日本进行文明选择的一个对象而已；三是需要认识到本多利明的思想归结为对外扩张的日本主义立场，对此应该予以警惕与批评。
As a Japanese political economist in the Edo period，Honda Toshiaki is stereotyped as an “enlightened thinker”. However，Donald Keene has given him a new position. In Keene’s work，Honda Toshiaki has become the discoverer of the West or “the world” outside Japan by writing A Secret Plan of Government（Keisei Hisaku） and Tales of the West（Seiiki Monogatari）. In addition，Keene also uses the research of Honda Toshiaki to sort out the history of “Dutch Studies”（Rangaku）in Japan，and to discover a new position of “world understanding” by merging the East and the West. Through the research on Honda Toshiaki，Donald Keene presents a new assertion that “the Japanese discovered Europe”. To fully understand and engage with this argument：First，it is essential to move beyond the narrow perspective of “Japan-the West（the world）”；Second，the context should be reframed to “China and Japan” or further broadened to the lens of “East Asia and the West” in order to grasp Honda Toshiaki’s “discovery”—the West is not the so-called “world”，but merely one option among Japan’s civilizational choices；Third，it is necessary to recognize that Honda Toshiaki’s ideas ultimately reflect a Japanese nationalist stance of external expansion，which should be treated with caution and criticism.
