The Department of Philosophy of Southeast University has a long history with profound tradition. Originally established in 1920, with a recovery of undergraduate enrollment in 1978, the Department of Philosophy started to enroll postgraduate students from 1981, and was renamed as Department of Philosophy and Science in 1982, with a cross of Philosophy and Science as disciplines direction and development features. Thus, a disciplinary system under integrated development of Philosophy Bachelor, first-level discipline doctor stations and post-doctoral research centers.
In recent years, with the Invigorating Project developed by Ministry of Education, and the No. 2 and No.3 construction of key bases of national 211 Project and 985 Project, Discipline of Philosophy has gained an active academic team with obvious advantages and reasonable structure, constructed innovation teams and research bases headed by the Cheung Kong Scholars, with many New Century Excellent Talents as a echelon, and developed stable partnership, characterized by credit recognition, teacher exchange and joint research, with internationally renowned universities including King's College London, UK, University of York, Michigan State University, USA, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, etc. 90% of the professors of the team have conducted overseas study in prestigious universities or have visiting scholar backgrounds, with an average age of around 40 years old.
The Discipline of Philosophy of Southeast University marks its advantages by Ethics and Philosophy of Science and Technology. The Ethics is the 3rd second-level discipline doctor station and now is the lead of key disciplines of Jiangsu Province and the 1st key research base. After years of construction, the discipline has gradually become the academic identification and discipline cluster with Moral Philosophy, Ethics of Science and Technology, and Significant Application as its “three primary colors”. Jointly established by Mr. Xiao Kuntao and academician Qian Zhonghan, Philosophy of Science and Technology belongs to the frontier disciplines conducting a crossover study of philosophy and science.
In the field of Moral Philosophy and Significant Application Research, Professor Fan Heping’s Modern Ethics Morphology, and major issues of China’s moral development, as well as Professor Guo Guangyin’s study on ethics and talent philosophical issues have been in the leading position in academic arena, having successively won 3 times of the title of major national tendering subjects.
In the field of Chinese and foreign Moral Philosophy, Professor Tian Haiping’s study on Western Moral Philosophy, Professor Dong Qun’s study on Buddhist Moral Philosophy, Professor Xu Jian’s study on Pre-Qin Moral Philosophy, and Profesor Xu Jia’s study on Moral Enlightenment of Modern China have showed great vitality in philosophical arena.
In the field of Philosophy of Science & Technology and Ethics of Science and Technology, studies that have produced an extensive influence in academic arena include Professor Lu Naiji’s study of Scientific and Technological Knowledge Theory, Professor Ma Lei’s study on Philosophy of Science, Professor Xia Baohua’s study on Philosophy of Technology, Professor Sun Muyi’s study on Bioethics, and Professor Chen Aihua’s study on Western Marxism Ethics of Science and Technology.
In the crossover study of Ethics and Social Spirit, Professor Wangyu’s study on Organizational Ethics and Group Moral Philosophy, Professor Ma Xiangzhen’s study on Moral Psychology and Philosophy of Mind, and Professor Qiao Guanghui’s study on Ethical Aesthetic have shown strong potential for development.
In this century, the Disciplines of Philosophy of Southeast University have published nearly 40 monographs in 5 series identified by “Ethics of Southeast University”, over 30 monographs on Philosophy and other disciplines. The achievements have been awarded 2 second prizes and one third prize of Ministry of Education, as well as 3 first prize and a dozen of second prizes of Jiangsu Province. In addition, the disciplines have presided 3 major national tendering subjects, 3 national key subjects, and almost 20 national general subjects.
In recent years, Southeast University has invested a total of more than 10 million yuan for special project construction, and has established Library of Ethics, Advanced Research Center of 985 Bases, and Electronic Resources Library of Ethics.