The Intrinsic Logic of the Connotation Evolution of Basic Research and Its Enlightenment

As a core concept of research policy, the connotation of basic research has evolved from “pure science” to “instrumental knowledge” and further to “socio-technical system integration”. This paper，following the analytical logic of “epochal problems—terminological shifts—policy judgments”, traces the historical trajectory of the concept of basic research and reveals the mechanisms of policy transformation amid the reconstruction of science–technology and state–society relations. Starting with the rationality–empiricism tension during the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, the paper analyzes how “pure science” gained institutional legitimacy within 19th-century university systems, and how, in the 20th century, Germany’s technical sciences/engineering sciences and the U.S. notion of “fundamental research” redefined the function of basic research in policy contexts. After World War II, Vannevar Bush’s notion of “basic research” was institutionalized under the Cold War paradigm, consolidating the linear model of innovation. Since the 21st century, basic research has become embedded in socio-technical systems, with U.S. and EU policies showing a clear trend toward “technoscientific” evolution. This paper argues that the evolution of basic research reflects a logic of problem-driven transformation, co-evolution of terminology and policy, and an upgrade of knowledge production modes, while also serving as a key interface for building national strategic science and technology capabilities. China must break free from the constraints of the linear model, establish a problem-chain-driven funding mechanism, integrate scientific, technological, ethical, and social dimensions, and advance from being a rule follower to a paradigm shaper.