In China there remain many problems with philosophy as an academic subject. Two of these problems are particularly worthy of attention, and could influence the whole future development of Chinese philosophy. The first problem is that, due to the excessively clear boundaries between the eight “second-level disciplines”, certain important issues have been neglected by philosophy, including major social problems and the fundamental challenges to human survival brought about by the rapid development of science and technology. This has resulted in a great reduction in the authority of philosophers when they speak out on these problems. The second problem is that too much research is conducted on the history of philosophical thought and of philosophers, while there is too little on genuine issues in nature, society, life and the most basic problems of philosophy itself. If we take the natural sciences, researchers of philosophy in modern China generally do not have much knowledge in this field, and in university departments of philosophy there are very few professors who have an understanding of the modern natural sciences, especially the latest knowledge in the field. Additionally such departments mainly recruit liberal arts students from high schools, as a result of which professionals in the field of philosophy present an imbalanced knowledge structure.

Currently over 70 schools have established a major of Philosophy in mainland China, and in principle graduates from these schools should be in short supply for a large country with a population of 1.3 billion.

Compared to the beginning of the 20th century however, the number of people professionally engaged in philosophy covers a larger proportion of China’s total population, but philosophy is not as popular as it was then and is playing an increasingly small role in the real world. There are various reasons for this. From the perspective of the discipline itself, philosophical education and research in universities is far removed from society, providing no philosophical answers to the big questions of our era. In addition, teachers are busy with academic research, training postgraduates and PhD students, or pursuing personal professional interests, titles and honors, leaving them little time to focus on such fundamental issues as nature, society, life and human thought. Philosophy has thus become a field which is quite unrelated to the real world, and people are gradually neglecting it or forgetting about it.

Problems in other fields including the general educational sector, scientific research departments and various kinds of assessment systems have all contributed to the above situation in philosophy. From the perspective of philosophy itself, what is most important is breaking down the strict boundaries between the eight “second-level disciplines”. Only by facing up to the genuine problems of nature, society and life as well as the most basic problems of philosophical thought can China’s philosophy find its vitality, providing wise answers to the problems of the real world. Our era urgently needs a philosophy which can provide reasonable answers and suggestions to help solve practical problems like the provision of food, housing and jobs.

The author is Director of the School of Philosophy of Wuhan University.

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today No.560, February 17, 2014.

Chinese link: http://www.csstoday.net/xueshuzixun/guoneixinwen/87781.html

Translated by Yu Hui

Revised by Gabriele Corsetti