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SUMMARY:Science and Politics in China: The Needham Puzzle and its Modern V
 ariant (中国的科学与政治：李约瑟问题及其现代变体) - Pr
 of. Chao Gu (Peking University)
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260213T120000Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260213T131500Z
UID:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/66c6b288-5c5f-43bb-b81d-6c28d2708162/
DESCRIPTION:Needham's Grand Question has led to a comparative study of the
  macro structure of science development in different civilizations. This t
 alk puts forward the concept of the ‘science regime’ (知识政体) to
  describe the macro structure of science development. The science regime c
 oncept frames the dominant relationship between scientific knowledge and o
 ther types of knowledge such as religious and metaphysical knowledge in a 
 society. Chao Gu identifies three variables that determine the different t
 ypes of knowledge\, namely the subject of knowledge production\, the sourc
 e of knowledge authority\, and the driving power of knowledge production\,
  and show how science regimes in different civilizations can be divided in
 to four ideal types: persuasive\, integrative\, dependent\, and experiment
 al. A society’s power structure is a key factor in the formation and evo
 lution of its science regime\, especially the relationship between politic
 al and ideological power. Both ancient Chinese and Islamic civilizations b
 elonged to an ‘integrated’ science regime\, which could not be spontan
 eously transformed into an ‘experimental’ science regime without a cha
 nge in power structure\, which is why\, it can be argued\, there was no sc
 ientific revolution. Western civilization evolved from the Greek ‘persua
 sive’ science regime via the medieval ‘dependent’ science regime to 
 the modern ‘experimental’ science regime\, so here\, it can be said th
 at the essence of a scientific revolution is the change in the science reg
 ime. Chao Gu will also conduct an in-depth analysis of high-temperature su
 perconductivity research following China's Reform and Opening-up as a case
  study to elucidate the relationship between science and politics in conte
 mporary China.\n\nChao Gu is an Assistant Professor at the Research Center
  for Chinese Politics\, School of Government\, Peking University. He is no
 w working as a visiting scholar at the Oxford Department of International 
 Development (ODID). His previous and ongoing research mainly focuses on th
 e relationship between science & technology and politics\, including a pol
 itical response to Needham’s puzzle\, the political value of Large Langu
 age Models (LLMs)\, and the co-production of normal science by scientists 
 and the state in contemporary China. These studies have been published in 
 academic journals such as Social Studies of Science and Humanities and Soc
 ial Sciences Communications. He has just published a monograph: Science an
 d Power: the Evolution of Science Regime (The Commercial Press\, 2025). (
 《科学与权力：知识政体的演化》，商务印书馆，2025). R
 ecently\, he has been working on the concept construction of sovereign AI\
 , as well as the simulation of the Thucydides Trap via LLMsChina.\n\nSpeak
 ers:\nProf. Chao Gu (Peking University)
LOCATION:Dickson Poon Building (Lucina Ho Seminar Room (first floor))\, Ca
 nterbury Road OX2 6LU
TZID:Europe/London
URL:https://talks.ox.ac.uk/talks/id/66c6b288-5c5f-43bb-b81d-6c28d2708162/
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DESCRIPTION:Talk:Science and Politics in China: The Needham Puzzle and its
  Modern Variant (中国的科学与政治：李约瑟问题及其现代变
 体) - Prof. Chao Gu (Peking University)
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