Returning to Scientific Practice; A New Reflection on Philosophy of Science

This book is the result of a collective study of the philosophy of scien-

tific practice (PSP), which began around 2002 and is still ongoing. There

is an apparently increasing interest in scientific practice, influenced by the

historicistic philosophy of science and the sociology of scientific knowledge

(SSK). Prof. WU Tong and his research group believe that it is necessary for

PSP to turn from a theory-dominant position to practice dominance. PSP has

also brought forward the possibility of reinterpreting the epistemic status of

local knowledge in the Chinese tradition, which provides the most significant

motivation to participate in this study.

In this book, we have selected three main cases – namely, Chinese medi-

cine, Fengshui, and Ethnobotany – to examine the effect of PSP. The aim

of our collective studies is not merely a theoretical construction of PSP, but

also to consider the various applications of PSP, especially in re-interpreting

and demonstrating the variety of local knowledge from traditional China,

which seems to be a genuine contribution to the international enterprise of

philosophy of science, particularly when made by Chinese scholars.