. -- . ' 4 Commun;u1, no. 21, Janu:uy 1989 PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE IN CHINA Alison Wylie University o/Western Ontario fames Robert Brown * Unfrersity of Toronto Two apparently different genres of philosophical concern with science exist in China today. For the past forty years Chinese thinking about science has been dominated by natural dialectics. As a br:lllch of Marxist philosophy this includes speculative, natural philosophy of a sort associated with 19th century Gennan idealism (derived from Schiller and Hegel but influenced, most directly, by Engel's work. Narurdialektik) as well as, more recently, detailed historical studies of science and technology. In the last decade. however, a strong interest has emerged (or, properly, re-emerged) in Western philosophy, especially analytic philosophy of science. Although these broadly Marxist and Western approaches are routinely presented as antithetical, m:my natural dialecticians have begun to address the sorts of questions about science typical of the analytic tradition. The result is that the lines between these traditions are becoming somewhat blurred and the number of philosophers in China whose interests overl:ip those of philosophers of sdencc in the \Vest is dramatically increasing. This overlap has become so extensive that for many in China "philosophy of science" and "natural dialectics" are viJ1ual synonyms. What follows concerns philosophy of science in China that is explicitly Western and analytic in orientation. In a recent report on philosophy in China, Robert Ware has remarked on the widespread popularity of philosophical literature which extends well beyond the boudaries of aC3demic philosophy 1• We were likewise impressed that an enonnous amount of Western philosophy is available in translation, including a range of both analytic and continental authors, and is very widely read and discussed in China. Apparently Kuhn and Popper were especially popular in the early 1980s, along with Sartre, Nietzsche and Heidegger. a fad which became one of the targets of a short-lived campaign in 1984 against the effects of "spiritual pollution" (i.e., the influence of ideas considered dangerous, many of which were attributed to foreign sourc.es) and. again, of the equally short-lived "movement against capitalist liberalization (liberal ideas)" in 1987. l\lore recently, more sustained popular interest has turned to Feyerabend and 1"Philosophy in China Tod:iy". ScJ<ial Tht1>ry anJ Prartia, fonhcuming. He: nuics. for eumplc. the circu la1ion figure~ for key jo>umab: Philnsoplliral Rtstarrh, ":m import.1111 profe~- 'ional joum:il in Chin:i. wi1h 5,0llO philosuphcrs. hã a circul:11ion uf :it>uu1 -10,(1()() .:upies-. while "in Nonh Americ:i. with abuut 10,000 philo-uphcrs, Plti/ost>plii,*al R.-1*itl\'. a cornpJr3blc joum:al. hã :i .:ir.:ul:11iun of ;ibuu1 ::?,500 ceopits.Communiqul, no. 21, January 1989 Shapere. In Lam.hou University one of us (JRB) found enormous sympathy for Feyerabeod's cpislemological aawchy. Wang Ttan-bua. who is from that uoiveISity, is presently tr.u:Wating Against Methott. the political implications of Feyerabend's methodological liberalism are not lost on the students, nor, by the way, is Feyerabend' s appreciation of traditional Chinese medicine. When ooe of us (AW) gave a lecture on philosophy of science to the students of the Wuhan College of Radio Technology, we were surprised to find so many technical students who bad read Western philosophy of science. From middle school on (i.e., in the equivalent of high school) all students are required to tlke courses in natural dialectics, :ilthougb they do not generally, at the technical college level, get exposure to analytic philosophy of science. This means, however, that philosophical ~ about science are regularly discussed as part of the curriculum :ind m:my seek out :malytic philosophy of science on their own given this inuodoaioo. We found, in fact, that these sorts of philosnt'hic::il C'""-*::.::.:... .• .-~: : ... : !''.' ; • .... ..... : w , • '. • .:11 to the .i..:1~nces and to science (and technology) students. A professor of history in Xi'an who one of us (AW) visited raised questions about contemporary phi]osopby of history and displayed tr:imlalioos of Collingwood and several Olher classics in the field which he b3d found important to his work. It was subsequently teamed from a Marxist philosopher who now works on philosophical hermeneutics that 5 continental philosophy (i.e., Heidegger, Sartre, Gadamer, and various exponents of structuralism and post-structurnlism) has an influence in the humanities comparable to that exercised by Kuhn and Popper in the sciences. The result of this wide interest in philosophy, now including analytic philosophy of science, is that philosophical texts and journals have extremely high subscription and sales rates, and reach an audience well beyond the community of professional philosophers and their students. Within the univeISities, philosophy is also a core discipline, although some philosophers we spoke to indicated that the current government policy has been to cut back support for philosophy in favour of increased emphasis on the sciences and technology:?. Indeed. there was considerable pessimism on this score, a situation not unlike the West. Nevertheless, there are large, autonomous philosophy departments in most universities in China and many of them now include a strong component of Western philosophy of various kinds alongside tr:idition:ll ~: .. '!e~ ""'i'"• **;-'.-:; . ..... . **~.:: .... ~., or.l!l.:hes of :.1.1.r.'-'.;l and Maoist philosophy (or Mao 2.edong thought, as they prefer to put it). In some cases natural dialectics constitute a separate institute, as at 2IRB was informed by one *-*'-"*~*"'< ~ ... ,:., thal publishers of books in 1hc humanities have insti1utcd a new policy requiring a large dcposil by an ~uthor (or iranslaior) before a book is published. If lhc book sells reasonably well ii will all be regained :is royalties. bul the initial ouday is large enough lo m3ke publishing very difficult. *:* -; : ... * . . 6 Wuhan University, but otherwise it is included in pbilosophy3. The philosophy departments regularly provide courses in logic and introductions to analytic philosophy, history of Western philosophy, and philosophy of science which are attended by students from a * range of dep:utments and backgrounds. Courses in natural dialectics are required of undergraduate students in most programs of study but, depending on the imtructor, they may incorporate some analytic philosophy of science as well. (Indeed, in some cases courses that deal exclusively with analytic philosophy of science are taught under the rubric of natural dialectics.) The texts used to teach at an undergraduate level are generally in Chinese°' and include several collections of articles which summarise the work of a very wide range of Western philosophers. These include members of 3Philosophy dep:irtments in O.ina aslo include a r:angc of dis.:iplines Iha! woulJ be dassified as social s.:iences in lhe West. Rober! Ware discu"5Cs lhis in his anic:k m.,ntioned above: furihcr interesting insights about lhe dcvelopmen: of the soda) ~icnccs MC contained in recent issues of C/1inese StXiology and Antliri•!"'log~*- For eumplc, empirical 5ociolosy w;is banned during the .:uhural revolution anJ h;is only ju~ been reinsuitd: a n.:w Dcparun.:nt of Sociology w:as opened at Fu.hn l:ni,*ersiry, Shangh:1i in 19113. S.:.: "The Revival of O.inese Sociolol!Y Alier 1978", in Chint'S<' S1•.-iol1•gy and An:lirt>f'<•l•>xy. vol. 16. 1983-ll.J. "'It is initre5tiñ to nolt, ho"' ever, that most <tuJcnL< no"' bceinnin2 univcr;irv have haJ some Eñli•h l:mguãe training: it *hã become :1 ..ianJard pan of the middle ...:h1>ol .:u1Ti.:ulum. Communiqui, no. 21, January 1989 the Vienna Circle as well as more recent philosophers of science, e.g., Hempel, Kuhn, Popper, Feyerabend, Lakatos: a broad selection of analytic philosophers, e.g.. Ayer, Ryle. Wisdom, Sellars, Quine: and some contemporary analytic and continental philosophers as well as philosophical thinkers in the social sciences, e.g., Kripke, Habermas, Foucault, Rawls, Olomsky. One of the most influential teaching texts in philosophy of science is :in introduction published in 1984 by Professor Jiang Tianji. Much of the undergraduate instruction is done by "young teachers", students of philosophy who have completed :in ~lA at one of the major graduate institutions and are assigned to teach one or two courses a yell' either at the uni\'ersity where they trained or elsewhere. ~fany subsequently return to graduate school to complete a PhD, in China or abroad. Graduate students are typically admitted, on the basis of stringent entr.mce examinations. to study with a particular professor. The graduate students in philosophy of science :ind natural dialectics often have a first degree in some science. In L:inzhou. for example, the backgrounds of the fifteen MA students who are primarily interested in philosophy of science tin order of frequency! are: mathematics, physics. chemistry. and biology: one student did his 8,.\ in Chinese literature: none had a rhilosophy background. Of course other graduate students \\ho are studying political philosophy or Chinese phik1sophy typically do lu\"e a philosophy first degree: but not if they ('*<'.'. ;::J:. . ' ~ Communi,qul, no. 21, J:mu:uy 1989 r '! I are studying philosophy of scienc:e5• Lanzhou is, however, an extreme case in this regard. Whatever the shortcomings of this situation they certainly won't have the problem common in the West of a great quantity of philosophy of science uninformed by science. Our impression of Chinese graduate students is that they are very enterprising about taking courses with other faculty :ind in other departments, but, for the most part, their professional (gr.iduate) training is, from beginning to end, the responsibility of the individual who is appointed their supervisor. The depamnents with particular strengths in philosophy of science are typically, therefore, the departments where there is a senior professor active in philosophy of science. Currently the main centres for philosophy of science seem to be: Beijing University, where Professor Hong Qian. a student of Schlick tr:lined in Vieon3 in the 1930s, taught until his retirement several years ago; the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), Institute for Philosophy, where Professor Qiu Ren-zong teaches natural , dialectics :ind where there is a strong or<';!M:..;;10: :~ Westem philosophy; 5How SllldcalS get into philosophy from the sciences is sometimes amusing. One s111dcnt with :i m:ithematics background told JRB th:it he came' to philosophy aficr * stumbling on Newton's Principia in the libr:iry which he re:id :llld loved. (Remember its full name: Mathematical Principles of Nallu"O/ Philosophy.) It is doubtful th:at the study of philosophy is exactly wtw he expected ii woold be, but he seemed very h:ippy with it nonetheless.. **.*: ... * 7 Wuhan Univeisity, where Professor Jiang Tianji has taught since the 1940s, after a brief period at Beijing University and several years training in the United States before Llberation during which time he developed an extensive badcground in logical positivist philosophy of science, Wittgenstein, and Americ311 pragmatism. There is, in addition, some strength in philosophy of science at Lanzhou University where Professor Lin Ll works in natural dialectics and where Ma Jin-Shon and Wang Jian-hua are both very active in contemporary issues such as realism and rationality; at the People's University of China in Beijing where Lan Zheng has taught; and at Huang Zhong University of Science and Technology. Furthermore, there is strength in analytic philosophy with connections to philosophy of science at Jinin University where Professor Shu Weiguang teaches: at N ankai University in Tianjin: Zhongsban University in Guanszzhou; Nanjing University in Nanjing: at-North West University in Xi'an; at Nankai University in Tian Jing; at Sichuan University in Chengdu; and at Fud:m University in Shanghai where an active group of young scholars have established extensive connections with Western philosophers and ~r.! 1.*v~t;;;;- iñ their own .-.: ro:~:;~.: :=* tiilllusvplly of science. The graduate program at Wuhan University, where AW visited this past Spring, has one of the largest concentrations in China of graduate students with the English language skills and analytic training to work effectively in contemporary philosophy of science. Professor -:* . :: :":: ::-: :* :. .*. 8 Jiang lw eight cunent doctoral students. two of whom are now studying abroad, five recent PhD graduates, and a dozen or more MA students at various stages of completion, although I understand that the emphasis of this progr.unme is now shifting to PhD level tr:lining. In the course of a giving a four-week seminar on philosophy of the social sciences, I was enormously imp~ by the English language competence of these students, and the sophistication of their philosophical training. We supplemented morning lectures with informal afternoon discussions which were invariably well informed and unexpectedly challenging. I (AW) had been warned before coming to China that it would be difficult to engage Chinese students in critiC31 discussion but I found this wholly inaccurate of the students with whom I worked at Wuhan. Several of the PhD theses in philosophy of science curremly in progress or recently completed at Wuhan University are in English, and the written work I have received from students testifies to long training *in English language philosophy. 1be graduate programme at Lanzhou University where JRB stiyed for a month is not as advanced as Wuh3D's. It has :i 13J'ge number of MA studeDIS, but no PhD progr~unme yet. 1be students who complete the (three year) MA degree will go on to texh at this or some other university, a aechnical school, some son of college, or perhaps will do a PhD . at another university such as Wuhan or abroad. The level of English is not as high as at *.** Communiqul, no. 21. January 1989 Wuhan. Students' reading and writing abilities are good, but oral skills are weak since they have bad very little opportunity to practice. I (JRB) bad several people with no interest in the philosophy of science :dtend my lectures just because they wanted to listen to a native speaker6• Judging by the level of interest in the philosophy of science and the emerging sophistication of the students that we encountered (both MA and PhD) we expect some very interesting work: in philosophy of science to be forthcoming from China in the near future. In addition to these graduate programs, there is a very active philosophical community in China trained in Western philosophy. Before liberation, Russell and the American pragmatists were quite influential and there continues to be some interest in these philosophical traditions. despite sb:up criticism during the Cultural Revolution. In addition. there is now work being done in the analytic style on philosophy of language, general epistemology (including. for example, Quine 's naturalised epistemology), ethics and political philosophy (e.g., Rawls), and, most intriguing. there is growing interest in the critiques of analytic philosophy and in other developments which have begun to draw the continentll and AngloAmerican traditions doser together (such as are associated with Rony and the "end of philosophy" debates). 60ne of my (JRB) tzre3k•I plc:t1un:' v. :i..~ doing S~espe:ire re3Jing~ in 1he t•ening•. Communiqlli, oo. 21, January 1989 Within philosophy of science current wort includes philosophy of mathematics, physics (including work ori foundations: e.g., space-time, relativity), and cognitive science (including studies of "intelligent automata" and neuroscience), theories of confirmation and explanation, the debates over scientific realism, the rationality and relativism debates, and work on figures such as Kuhn, Feyerabend, Laudan, Lakatos, Popper. Newton-Smith, and others. Although some philosophical work in China is original, a large amount of energy is devoted to understanding and assimilating what has been done in the West. It is perhaps something like the early European Renaissance when philosophical work concentrated on translation and commentary. Chinese philosophers regularly meet to discuss their work in these areas. In May 1987 a fifth nation-wide conference on Philosophy of Science was held at Olengdu, sponsored by the Chinese Association of Natural Dialectics, Institute of Philosophy in the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS), and the Journal of Natural Dialectics: Studies in Philosophy, History, and Sociology of Science which is published by the Institute of Policy and Management Studies *in .SCience, *a *division of CAS: these conferences are roughly biennial. There are in lddition, general conferences on Western philosophy, including an annual Summer Institute in Beijing, "ilich sometimes incorporate philosophy of science. The result is that there is at least one national conference a year in China which provides a forum *.* .. *:.*** 9 for papers on analytic philosophy of science. There are also frequent special interest conferences organised at particular universities. One which involved a number of Western philosophers concerned Popper and was held at Wuhan University in 1987; another such conference on Kuhn is being organised for 1989, also at Wuhan University. * In addition to conferences, there are a number of outlets for translations of Western philosophy texts and for original work in philosophy of science. The main outlet for translations of classic texts in philosophy of science are the Conunercial Press of China in Beijing, the Shanghai Press of Translation, the Hua Xia Press and Sanlian Press both in Beijing, and the Hunan Press. The Journal of Natural Dialectics, under the editorship of Professor Fan Dainian, is a major outlet for original work in analytic philosophy of science; St11dies in the Dialectics of Nature and Philosophical Research publish in this area :is well. Some Cbinese philosophy is a..-ailable in English translation in Chinese S111dies in Plrilosoplry and in Philosophy East and West. The forinei' sometimes publishes papers that relate broadly to philosophy of science (e.g .. there is an issue on "Astrophysics and Ideology" which includes papers on Einstein's relativity theory, space-time, :md science and pseudoscience) but the latter journal includes almost nothing in this area. Nevertheless, we hope that the work of Chinese philosophers of science will be increasingly accessible to philosophers in the West through its publication in their own journals. ,, 10 Papers by established Chinese philosophers of science are appe:iring in Westem jomnals such as British Journal of Philosophy of Science and Ratio, and the students now finishing doctorates oo an3lytic philosophy are being encouraged to submit their work to the relev:lDl British. American. and Canadianjoumals7• Some of the senior professors working in philosophy of science have bad an opportunity to travel abroad in recent years; Professor Jiang Im visited the United States twice since 1983 and we understand that a session representing Chinese scholarship is planned for the conference on Peirce scheduled for October of 1989 which will bring him and several others to Boston. Such exchanges will cenainly be profitable for both Chinese and North American philosophers and we hope that more can be arranged. We also hope th3t there will be more exchanges like those which have allowed us, among m:iny others, the opportunity to visit and lecture in the v:uious universities in China where philosophers are studying English language philosophy. 7For example, Professor Ji:ang recently published "Scientific Rationality, Fonnal or lnfonnal?" in British /011rnal of Philosophv of Scie11Ce. J6 (198S), 409-423, :and we unders°tand thal Professor Hong will be contributing :an :utic:lc to the vohune on Ayer in the Library of Living Philosoplwn. Lin Zheng, :a recent gradu:itc of Wuh:ln Uai\lersity, h:u just published a p:ipcr on *1nc~bility :ind Scientific Rationality" in l111m1atio110l Studies in the Philosophy of Scie11Ce: TM D11brovnik Papers, voL 2, 1988: 227*236. Communiqul, no. 21, Jaouaiy 1989 Western philosophers who plan to visit China (or who would like to do so) will likely find a wann reception fonn any of the philosophy departmeDIS mentioned above should they write :ihead offering to give a lecture or two. Aclcnowledgmrents: This report is an outgrowth of discussions we had with faculty and students when ooe of us (AW) was in residence teaching a seminar on philosophy of the social sciences in the Philosophy Department at Wuhan University during a fourweek period in May :ind June 1988 and the other (JRB) was in residence teaching a seminar on rationality and realism in the Depanment of Philosophy at Lanzhou University during the month of October, 1988. We thank them all for their enonnous generosity and enthusiasm. AW would also like to thank the Dean of Arts :ind the Department of Philosophy, University of Western Ontario, and Professor Jiang Tianji and the members of the Philosophy Department and Foreign Guest Office al Wuhan University who made her visit possible. JRB wishes to thank the University of Toronto for financial help and l..3nzbou University, its Foreign Office, and its Philosophy Department for being such gracious hosts. We both wish to thank William Newton-Smith for bis band in the arrangements. Many others have since helped to improve the accuracy of this report and broaden its scope. We would particularly like to thank Robert X. Ware, George Gale, Ian Hacking, and Lu Zhaolu for their generosity in this connection. We hope the result .*: .** .. *. Communiqul, no. 21, January 1989 11 conveys something of the excitement about philosophy of . science that we encountered io China. and suggests areas of mutual philosophical interest in which there might be fruitful exchaoge with Chinese philosophers of science. 1WINUTES OF COUNCIL MEETING WINDSOR MAY28, 1988 PRESENT: J. Brown, R. Buns, M. Osler, S. Turner, P. Wmsor, P. Wood. J. Wrigi. MINlJI'ES OF THE 1987 MEETING: Passed. PRESIDE.'llT'S REPORT: (a) The President would urge SSHRC to review its policy of funding research, especially its new policy of having local universities administer travel grants. (b) The future of Communique would be considered. SECRETARY-TREASURER'S REPORT: (a) A financial report was circulated. (b) It was agreed that up to S 1200 extra should be used for travel expenses if deemed necessary. COMMITTEE REPORTS: I. NOMINATIONS: The following were recommended: W. Shea for 2nd Vice President F. Toumier for Council S. Straker for Council II. PROMOTION OF SOCIETY: J. Brown reported on the m:ril campaign to get new members. The number of members is expected to increase from about 50 io 1987 to about 100 in 1988. III. COMMUNIQUE: No changes are expected. LAVAL ~~ETING (1989): (a) Local :ur:mgements to be handled by F. Tournier. (b) 'Prõme to be handled by A. Wylie (chair). Y. Gauthier, :ind S. Turner. - .. * ** i°l'llNUTES-OF THE .-\NNUAL GENERAL tHEETING WINDSOR MAY ~8. 1988 ~llNUTES OF THE 1987 MEETING: Moved and passed . . " ... . PRESIDE!\TS REPORT: Thanks expressed for their effons in making the local arrangem~ms tJ. Wright) and for the programme (P. Wood). f r. ; ~ COMMUNIQUE CANADCA..,, SOCIETY FOR lllE HISTORY A."ID PHn.OSOPHY OF SCIE..~CE S0CIEm CANADIENNE POUR L'HISTOJR.E ET PHil..OSOPHIE DES SCECCES President: Prof. Margaret Osler Department of History University of Calgary Calgary, Alhena TININ4 Filst Vice*Prcsidcnc Prof. !'r(ary P. Winsor ULP.S.T. University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario M5S IAI Second Vice-President: Prof. William Shea Department of Philosophy McGill (.;niversity !'rioncreaL Que'bec HJA:?TI Secretary-Treasurer: Dr. James R. Brown Department of Philosophy University of Toronto Toronto, Ontario MSSIAI Newsletter Editor: Dr. John M. Nicholas Depanmentof Philosophy University of Western Onurio London, Ontario N6A3K7 No. 21, J:inu:uy 1989 ~l~ I Communique, no. 21, Janu:uy 1989 SOCJE'ra CANADIENNE D'HISTOIRE ET PHil.OSOPHIE DES SCIENCES CANADIAN SOCIETY FOR HISTORY AND PHil.OSOPHY OF SCIENCE ADVISORY BOARD/ CONSEIL Serge Roben (Philosophie, U.Q.A.M.) (1987-90) Martin Staum (History, Calgary) (1986-89) Stephen Straker (History, U.B.C.) (1988-91) Fr:m~ois Tournier {Philosophie, Laval) (1988-91) Stephen Turner (History, New Brunswick) (1986-89) Paul Wood (History, Queen's) (1986-89) Alison Wylie (Philosophy, Western) (1987-90) COil'11l'IUNIQUE Newsletter of the Canadian Society for History and Philosophy of Science ISSN 0833-8736 invites • News of research undertaken. • Abstracts of papers presented by members. • Announcements of and reports on conferences or workshops held • News of courses taught in history and philosophy of science. •Brief biographies of Canadian scientists. • News of Canadian scholars abroad (temporarily or permanently). • Guidelines for and experience of lobbying Government support. • News of posts vacant in the field. •Names of scholars from afar known to be visiting Can:ida or the U.S. • Suggestions.