表面上看，这似乎是咬文嚼字的争论，实则体现了西方文化研究中两种对立的传

On the face of it, this seems to be a bite-and-bit argument, but it actually embodies two opposing traditions in Western cultural studies, namely the Anglo-American tradition of empirical sociology and the German tradition of historical philosophy.

On the face of it, this seems to be a chewy argument, but it reflects two opposing traditions in western cultural studies, namely, the empirical sociology tradition of Britain and the United States and the tradition of German historical philosophy.

On the surface, it seems to be a rhetorical argument, but in fact, it reflects two opposite traditions in Western cultural studies, namely, the positive sociological tradition in the United States and the historical philosophy tradition in Germany.