The paper describes the manner to teach history and philosophy of technical sciences in today’s Russia. The conventional concept of philosophy of science is examined, in particular, in its application to technical sciences. Didactic peculiarities of the history and philosophy of science course as it is taught in Russia to PhD students, within an example of academician V.S. Stepin’s manuals, are analyzed. Concepts of the role philosophical courses play to enrich students’ scholarly training are discussed. It is underlined that the didactics based upon the belief into the rationality of the whole «world system» and into the right way in understanding its «foundations» is still preserved everywhere. It is important for philosophers to deal with describing and studying contexts which are not taken into account by disciplinary paradigms. Three levels, on which student and PhD students meet philosophy, form a unity. Collaboration and intellectual exchanges between teachers and students on the two highest levels can be turned into an abundant source of the essential information for teachers.
The paper is an opinion about the theoretical state of post-Soviet philosophy which is described as a kind of metaphysics that avoids any discussion of its principles and often claims to be the meta-science.
The paper comprises of some examples of philosophical courses delivered at three US institutes of technology, topics considered attractive for students, and professors’ answers to the questions why and how the students of these institutes should study various philosophical problems.
The paper collects some widely discussed ideas about special communities and their abilities to produce essential innovations.
The dramatic dissimilarity of interpretations of the term «middle culture» between university readers and modern discussions on politics and culture is shown in terms of some texts compiled from the Internet.
