The Discipline of Philosophy of Science and Technology at Nankai University, being one of the earlier established subdisciplines of philosophy in China, has exercised an important influence in the domains like dialectics of nature, philosophy of science, philosophy of technology, and sociology of science. Early in the eighties of the 20th century, Professor LIU JUN-JUN has already started her research in history of science, philosophy of science, and dialectics of nature, translating in Chinese the following works: Life of Science, History of Science and Technology,Historical Background of Chemistry, Developments of Biological Thought: Diversity, Evolution, and Heredity, Introduction to Meta-Science, Invisible Academy: Diffusion of Knowledge in the Scientific Communities, Laws of Nature and Laws of Human. She completed two books that are Sociology of Science and Structure of Knowledge and Social Activity, and established some courses about the relative subjects. She also directed the researches of some master students in the discipline of dialectics of nature. All these have played a remarkable role in the studies in history of science and sociology of science commencing in the 1980s. Professor LI JIAN-SHAN’s History of World Technological Culture won the Excellent Textbook Award of Chinese Ministry of Education. Professor Li’s course with the same title was named “Tianjin Quality Course” in 2009. Besides these, Professor Li has also edited the works like Philosophical Reflections on Circular Economy and History of European Scientific and Technological Culture, making remarkable contributions in both the establishment of courses and the teaching and research. Professor REN XIAO-MING has published numerous academic works including Studies in the Philosophy of Computer Science and Decision, Game, and Cognition. He also directed a Key Program, a Major Program, and a General Program supported by Chinese Philosophy and Social Science Foundation.
For the moment, the discipline affords the following courses: Introduction to Philosophy of Science, Sociology of Science, General Introduction to History of Science, Cognitive Science, Methodology of Science, Contemporary Philosophy of Science, Studies in Theories of Science. The former directors of the discipline are Zhang Jun-xin, Li Zu-yang, and Li Jian-shan. Professor Ren Xiao-ming is now directing the teaching and research of the discipline.
