If the arguments of Edward Said's Orientalism are valid, Joseph Needham's Science and Civilisation in China stands condemned. The opposition between Foucault, Said's main source of inspiration, and both Marxism and hermeneutics is highlighted. Utilizing the work of Maclntyre, recent hermeneutic philosophy is defended against Foucault, and through this, Needham's work is defended as a form of Marxist hermeneutics.