History of the Department of Philosophy

The predecessor of the Department of Philosophy of Shenzhen University was the Institute of Chinese Studies, established in 1984. Professor Tang Yijie, the first dean of the Institute, envisioned and directed the disciplinary construction of Chinese Philosophy and the Study of Chinese Thought and Culture. The academic researches of the older generation of scholars were influential, such as Professor Tang Yijie's study of Chinese philosophy, Professor Cai Delin's study of Mao Zedong's philosophy, and Professor Yu Qiquan's study of the history of Marxist philosophy.

he hard work of those senior scholars has laid a solid foundation for the development of the Department of Philosophy. In 2002, the School of Humanities established the Faculty of Philosophy and History and began a systematic teaching experiment for undergraduates in philosophy. In 2006, the Department of Philosophy was formally established and was authorized to confer Master's degree in Chinese Philosophy. In 2009, the undergraduate major in philosophy was officially approved, and the enrollment started the following year. In 2010, the Department was accredited as First-Level Discipline Institution to confer Master Degree in Philosophy. We now enroll graduate students in Chinese Philosophy, Marxist Philosophy, Western Philosophy, Ethics and Religion.

After more than 30 years of development, the Department of Philosophy now comprises a group of faculty members with academic excellence, reasonable diversification, and promising future. We have influential scholars such as Professors Jing Haifeng, Wang Lixin, Wang Xingguo, and Li Yeming in Chinese Philosophy; Professors Xu Mingming and Hu Hao in Western Philosophy; Professor Tian Qibo in Marxist Philosophy; Professor Zhang Yiming in Ethics; Professor Li Dahua and Wen Yongning in Religious Study. We also have a group of young scholars (associate professors, lecturers and assistant professors); academically active and specialized, they promise a bright future for the department’s mission. Our faculty members are specialized in modern neo-Confucianism, the cultural trends of the Song and Ming Dynasties, the Sinicization of Marxism, Husserlian phenomenology, philosophy of language and philosophy of mind, mathematical logic, philosophy of science and technology, social theory of religion, and Chinese Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism research. They have conducted a number of national, provincial and ministerial-level projects, and the results have been fruitful.

In recent years, the Department of Philosophy has recruited Du Weiming, Guo Qiyong, Hong Handing, Chen Shaoming, Zhang Zhilin, Liu Xiaogan as guest professors. Renowned scholars at home and abroad have also been invited to hold academic conferences, lectures and forums. In addition, with the goal of building an academic research platform in mind, the Department has founded research institutions such as the Institute of Chinese Studies, the Institute of Religions, and the Institute of Creation and Transformation of Chinese Traditional Culture. The founding of these institutions has been widely acclaimed by the academic community.

The Department of Philosophy has trained numerous talented students in the past three decades, and our students have been participating actively in politics, business, academia, culture, education, journalism and other fields. Their achievements have been remarkable.

Small steps taken together can lead up to a thousand lis’ journey, and all the small steps we have accomplished lead up to a maturing Department of Philosophy of Shenzhen University.

Department Chair:

Hu Hao

Department Vice-Chair:

Ge Huanhuan

Chen Hao

Head of teaching and research sections:

Chinese Philosophy: Wang Lixin

Marxist Philosophy: Tian Qibo

Western Philosophy: Hu Hao

Religion: Wen Yongning

Ethics: Zhang Yiming