Tong Shijun (; born September 14, 1958
) is a Chinese
philosopher
A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and Chancellor of
New York University Shanghai
New York University Shanghai (NYU Shanghai) is China's first Sino-US research university and the third degree-granting campus of New York University (NYU). Jointly established by NYU and East China Normal University with the support of the city o ...
.
From 2011 to 2019, Tong served as professor of philosophy and party secretary at
East China Normal University
East China Normal University (ECNU) is a comprehensive public research university in Shanghai, China. It was formed in 1951 by the merger of the Great China University (est. 1924) and Kwang Hua University (est. 1925) and originated from the St. ...
(ECNU), where he also held several positions in the philosophy faculty and university administration from 1984 to 2004.
He served as a researcher and Deputy Party Secretary at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences from 2004 to 2011.
Early life and education
Tong spent the first six years of his life in a village of Xiaoshan District,
Hangzhou City
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...
,
Zhejiang Province
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiangs ...
before moving to
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
, where he went to elementary and middle school.
In 1975, Tong was dispatched to work on a farm on
Chongming Island
Chongming, formerly known as Chungming, is an alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze River in eastern China covering as of 2010. Together with the islands Changxing and Hengsha, it forms Chongming District, the northernmost area of the pr ...
.
When the Chinese
National College Entrance Examination
The National College Entrance Examination (NCEE), commonly known as the gaokao (), is a standardized college entrance exam held annually in mainland China. It is required for entrance into almost all higher education institutions at the under ...
resumed in late 1977 following the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, Tong gained entry to ECNU to study philosophy.
He received both his bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from ECNU in 1982 and 1984 respectively.
In 1988, Tong traveled to the
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...
in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
as a visiting scholar.
He ultimately earned a PhD in philosophy from the university in 1994,
studying under Norwegian philosopher
Gunnar Skirbekk.
Career and Scholarship
Tong began teaching in ECNU’s Philosophy Department as a lecturer in 1984, becoming associate professor in 1991 and full professor in 1994.
After graduating from the University of Bergen, Tong served as the chair of the philosophy department at ECNU from 1995 to 1998
and was appointed deputy dean of the School of Humanities from 1997 to 2000.
In 2000, Tong spent a year at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
as a
Fulbright Scholar.
Tong joined the
Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences
The Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences (SASS; ) was founded in 1958 and is China's oldest think tank for the humanities and social sciences. It is the country's second largest such institution, after the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CAS ...
(SASS) in 2004 as a researcher and as deputy party secretary, becoming the director of the academy’s Institute of Philosophy from 2009 to 2011.
In 2011, Tong returned to ECNU as professor of philosophy and secretary of the university’s Communist Party Standing Committee
Tong is the author of 10 original books on philosophy,
including his most recent work, ''当代中国的精神挑战
piritual Challenges in China Today' (2017). Tong’s scholarship focuses primarily on philosophic paths for dialogue between China and the West and philosophy’s application to contemporary society.
Much of Tong’s work relates to the concept of
communicative rationality
Communicative rationality or communicative reason (german: kommunikative Rationalität) is a theory or set of theories which describes human rationality as a necessary outcome of successful communication. This theory, borne from the over inflation ...
introduced by
Jurgen Habermas, whose 1992 work ''
Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy'' was translated into Chinese by Tong. Tong is also the author (with Li Guangcheng) of the Chinese translation of
Hilary Putnam
Hilary Whitehall Putnam (; July 31, 1926 – March 13, 2016) was an American philosopher, mathematician, and computer scientist, and a major figure in analytic philosophy in the second half of the 20th century. He made significant contributions ...
’s ''Reason, Truth, and History.''
Tong continues to serve as director of ECNU’s National Institutes of Educational Policy Research. He is a foreign member of the
Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters
The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters ( no, Det Norske Videnskaps-Akademi, DNVA) is a learned society based in Oslo, Norway. Its purpose is to support the advancement of science and scholarship in Norway.
History
The Royal Frederick Unive ...
and member of the board of consulting editors for the journal ''Philosophy and Social Criticism.''
He has also served as an advisory member of the Shanghai Ministry of Education and of the Shanghai Municipal
Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...
(CPPCC).
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tong, Shijun
East China Normal University alumni
Educators from Shanghai
1958 births
Living people
East China Normal University faculty
Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters