Department of Philosophy of Agricultural Sciences has been established in Kyoto University since 1952. Suketaka Kashiwa (1907-2007), who was the first professor of this department, published a book entitled “Philosophy of Agricultural Sciences” in 1962, where he especially clarified the characteristics of “applied sciences” such as agricultural sciences, medicine, and so on. He insisted that applied sciences are not just the application of basic sciences, but they have their own purposes and methods used to unify them. For instance, applied sciences aim to clarify the rational human behaviors to realize some specific purposes (how to cure or prevent some diseases in a proper and best way). And, in order to realize such purposes, they utilize both natural sciences and social sciences, and examine whether their strategies are adequate to realize the purpose or not.
Hisayuki Omodaka (1904-1997), on the other hand, was the founder of philosophy of medicine. In comparing these two types of philosophies, people came to know that both of them discussed two major issues: epistemologic one, such as philosophy of sciences, and ontological one, such as a view of a person or an essence of agriculture. On a view of a person, both Kashiwa and Omodaka have a similar perspective. For them, humans are not passive subjects who are completely determined by the external environments, but they have initiative and are self-determined.
Both philosophy of agricultural sciences and philosophy of medicine reflect agricultural sciences and medicine respectively, and aim to establish better ones. In order to realize this goal, the continuous reflection of sciences and view of a person may be indispensable.
