This department is one of the training bases of basic liberal arts talents in Nanjing University. It attaches great importance to the cultivation of students' comprehensive quality and innovative ability, pays attention to cultivating compound talents with solid foundation, wide knowledge and strong adaptability, and implements the "ternary" teaching mode combining classroom teaching, academic activities and social practice to comprehensively improve students' comprehensive quality. In terms of undergraduate training, in recent years, the teaching reform has been carried out with the guiding ideology of consolidating theoretical foundation, broadening knowledge, strengthening logical thinking training, cultivating reading ability, improving argumentation quality, paying attention to practical application, innovating teaching methods and strengthening teaching material construction. In terms of postgraduate training, all majors aim at "building first-class disciplines and cultivating first-class talents" and pay attention to the cultivation of postgraduate theoretical thinking literacy, exploration and innovation ability and comprehensive quality. Under the premise of strict management, graduate students are encouraged to participate in various academic activities, and the "doctoral forum" with graduate students as the main body has a wide influence inside and outside the school. In addition to the scholarships established by the school, the department has also established a series of special scholarships through foreign cooperation, such as the Golden Foil Award, the Huazang Award, the Taoist Award and the Yin Logic Award. Over the years, the department has trained a large number of senior professionals and management decision-making talents in philosophy and related disciplines. Graduates at all levels enjoy a high reputation for their strong ideological and theoretical literacy, practical work ability, high sense of social responsibility and sound psychological quality.

The first dean was Professor Liu Boming, the famous leader of Xue Heng School and then vice president. Since then, Tang Yongtong, Zong Baihua, Tang Junyi, Mou Zongsan, Sun Shuping, Xia, Lin Dehong, etc. have successively served as department heads. The current department head is Professor Xu, an expert in religious studies and China philosophy.

After the college entrance examination system was resumed in June, 1977, NTU enrolled 885 four-year undergraduate students through the college entrance examination. Among them, there are 72 students in philosophy department, including, Huang, Zhou, Zhou and others. In addition, there are Li Yining, Deputy Secretary-General and Director of the General Office of Jiangsu Provincial Government, Zhou You, former director of Jiangsu Provincial Construction Department, former director of Jiangsu Provincial Press and Publication Bureau, and famous scholars Song, Song and Tong Xing.

This group of young people entered Nanjing University at the beginning of 1978 in name, but in fact they were students in grade 1977. This special "compilation" is related to the initial resumption of the college entrance examination and the temporary determination of enrollment time.

At that time, the head of the Department of Philosophy was a famous philosopher Sun Shuping, and the daily work was presided over by the deputy director of the Department. Then Mr. Hu Fuming wrote a famous theoretical article "Practice is the only criterion for testing truth" in 1978. Hu Fuming is also the teacher who is responsible for resuming the enrollment of the first batch of students after the college entrance examination. The philosophy department recruits 72 people, "the most in the whole school".

At that time, the students of philosophy department studied geology, astronomy, mathematical logic and so on. In addition to compulsory philosophy, sociology, law, etc. Even invited the pastor of the seminary to give a religious lecture. Grade 77 * * *, with 72 students, once called themselves "seventy-two sages" because they thought there were seventy-two sages under Confucius.