Will Commerce Open The Doors To 'Eastern' Philosophy? [View all]

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