Will Commerce Open The Doors To 'Eastern' Philosophy?

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The Chinese philosopher Confucius, circa 500 BC. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

by Adam Frank
June 18, 201310:09 AM

Let's play a game. Quickly name three philosophers of any historical era and write them down. If you are really ambitious, name five.

Take your time and think about it. It's OK. I'll wait.

Now look at your names. Were any of the men or women you wrote down born east of Afghanistan? Where any of the names of Indian, Chinese or Japanese origin? If you are like most Westerners (myself included), your list only included Westerners. Odds are your list had guys like Plato, Aristotle and Kant on it (note the rarity of women on the lists too, something Tania got into yesterday). Such geographic provincialism in the tools of our thinking raises some profound issues.

Is it really possible that the civilizations of the "other" hemisphere have nothing useful to say about value, the categories of experience or the nature of mind? If not, what does it mean that the only non-Western philosopher most people can name is the Confucius?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2013/06/17/192732770/will-commerce-open-the-doors-to-eastern-philosophy

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1. Lao Tzu said:

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves."

The only Eastern Philosopher I can name aside from Confucius and Buddha is Lao Tzu. I've been trying to read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. IMHO the language barrier is the biggest reason for Western civilizations being less familiar with them.

[TM99]

2. The language is issue is not really relevant.

There have been numerous amazing translations of non-Western philosophies for centuries.

Just as there is American exceptionalism, there is also Western tradition exceptionalism. And the Western is Greco-Roman philosophy (yet almost always just Plato & Aristotle), the Church Fathers (Augustine - a Neo-Platonist & Aquinas - a Neo-Aristotlian), and the Western European and then American schools of philosophy.

Yet, there are amazing schools of philosophy few ever get exposed to or desire to study. Few have studied Huayan where concepts of interpenetration and the natural paradox of relative versus absolute truth has been studied in China, Japan & Korea for over a thousand years. Anyone interested in Whitehead or Process metaphysics will want to check out this school of philosophy.

The Vedantic tradition is rich and varied through out thousands of years of Indian philosophical thought. Its highest expressions were pre-figuring concepts in Western philosophy hundreds of years before they were even considered. If you have read and enjoy Spinoza then explore Vedantic thought.

Another sorely neglected philosophical tradition is that from the 9th-century Baghdad where Greek philosophy & science were translated and expounded upon by Islamic philosophers. Their preservation and advancements ultimately led to the Western traditions revitalization in the Renaissance. How many have read Avicenna, Al-Kindi, Al-Amiri, and Abu Tahir Marwazi?

Finally, there has been very little western exploration of African philosophy. The Kongo traditions are rich & pertinent and the system of Ifa is stunning in its complexity and metaphysics.

Commerce and trade have had these schools and traditions open previously. If we want more in the West to read and study these traditions then the arrogance of the western mindset must be challenged and loosened so that the value in these other non-Western traditions of philosophy can be appreciated.