In the interpretation of the body in the 20th century, philosophy placed less emphasis than before on its natural composition and sought to integrate value judgements from different perspectives. The philosophy of the body addresses the deepest essential problems of human society and culture, it generates a uniquely detailed analysis of human nature and its various roles and performances in social operations, and it reveals contemporary society’s operating mechanisms and deep internal contradictions. Accordingly, philosophy no longer gives the mind any priority or superiority in terms of cognition, and the focus of research has moved away from pure consciousness and towards the body. Contemporary philosophical exploration of the body covers both the concept of belongingness and the feasibility of bodily freedom. It not only foregrounds the impossibility of viewing the body and the mind as separate entities but also leads us to examine the connections between humans and the world, taking meaning, reason and the body as their basis. This paper explores the connections between body and thought in modern philosophy, traces the development of philosophy’s increasing concern with the body, elucidates the main contributions of representative figures in the field of philosophy of the body, and analyses the methodological significance and influence of the philosophy of the body as a contemporary philosophical trend.

Ancient Chinese civilization was agricultural. To grasp the essence of science and civilization in China, Dr Joseph Needham drew attention to its agricultural development. He maintained close academic relations with Chinese historians of agriculture and obtained their help from time to time for the compilation of his Science and Civilisation in China. Needham also had a far-reaching influence on research on the agricultural history of China, both on its institutionalization and on transitions in the directions of research. The so-called ‘Needham puzzle’ was first proposed systematically in his address titled ‘Science and agriculture in China and the West’ at the annual conference of the China Agronomic Association in Chongqing in 1943. He believed that science is not isolated from society but is an indivisible part of civilization and that civilization has evolved as the result of the interactions of science, society and the environment.

Historian of science Joseph Needham argued in various papers and books that the philosophy of organic materialism that informed classical Chinese science not only nurtured Chinese discoveries in areas such as magnetic studies, but also obstructed the emergence of early modern mechanical science in China. Nevertheless, the emergence of field conceptions in late modern science led him to see that Chinese organic materialism could combine with mechanical conceptions to enrich late modern science. Although much attention has been paid to Needham’s historical and sociological views of Chinese science, there has been hardly any systematic focus on understanding his conception of the philosophy of Chinese science. This article explains why Chinese organic materialism not only nurtured Chinese science in the past, and hindered the emergence of modern science in China, but can also be part of a synthesis of late modern science transcending early Western science.

This exploratory study, which is based on the basic concepts of science communication, conducted in-depth interviews to examine the Chinese public's perceptions of and attitudes towards genetically modified organisms (GMOs). We found that, while scientific knowledge may to some extent be a differentiating factor in attitudes to GMOs, people are subject to significant influence from other information sources. Besides scientific knowledge and scientific literacy, the perception of risks in three dimensions—scientific uncertainty, food safety and conspiracy theories—forms an individual's affective framework for understanding GMOs. The trust framework, which is the regulating mechanism of perception and attitude, plays different roles through institutional trust and interpersonal trust. These tentative conclusions shed new light on how science communication should build the relationship between science and the public in the age of globalization and digitalization.

To illustrate the feature and structure of cultural authority of science in a Chinese context, this study reports on the features and current status of the cultural authority of science across China via a structural analysis of public perceptions of science as measured by cognitive, evaluative and behavioural indicators. Regional socio-economic disparity in China is significant, and we expect that disparity to give rise to diverse public attitudes to science. This study aims not only to enrich the regional data on current international efforts to compare public attitudes to science, but also to provide evidence-based research for other countries to discuss the diversity in the patterns of the cultural authority of science.

Anthropomorphism—the attribution of human characteristics to non-human animals or inanimate objects—is commonplace in many cultures around the world, but is particularly prominent and pervasive in Japan. Talking furniture on children's TV, vegetable mascots for city governments, an animated letter ‘e’ to promote online tax returns—there seems to be no limit to what can be anthropomorphized, and no corner of the culture where it is considered out of place. This of course includes efforts to communicate science, where we can find test tube narrators, angry viruses, friendly chemical elements, and a whole lot more. Scientists, on the other hand, are less enthusiastic about anthropomorphism in scientific discussions and tend to consider it to be inaccurate and unscientific. In science, thinking or communicating in anthropomorphic terms is generally derided. Where, then, does this leave the talking microbes and smiling proteins of Japanese science communication? While the literature has quite a lot to say about anthropomorphism, there is nothing specifically about its use for science communication. This paper draws on examples from Japan to consider the potential roles of anthropomorphism in the communication of science and related issues.

This study examines the coexistence of science with Christian, Islamic and African religious beliefs and its implications for science communication. Using Moscovici's social representations theory and focusing on his accommodation hypothesis, the paper draws from experiences in mental health care, vaccination controversies and viral epidemics using case studies from West Africa. It also draws similarities from historical vaccination controversies around the world and the Zika virus epidemic in Brazil. The paper shows that Moscovici's accommodation hypothesis of cognitive polyphasia better explains the coexistence of science and religious belief, which can, however, be double-edged. It also shows that coexistence can lead to a positive cross-referral system, as in the case of mental health in Ghana; can have initial negative outcomes, as in vaccination campaigns in Nigeria and Cameroon; or can aid the spread and eventual containment of disease, as experienced during the Ebola virus disease epidemic in West Africa. Thus, while science remains a reference beacon in all controversies, its coexistence with religious belief can lead to an initial plunge in authority from which it eventually recovers. The choice of authority is also complicated by the dual role of some scientists as religious leaders and by previous untoward experiences with science, conspiracy theories and rumours about Western interventions in Africa.