About the Book
Crossing continents and running across centuries, Key Concepts in World Philosophies brings together the 45 core ideas associated with major Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Islamic, African, Ancient Greek, Indigenous and modern European philosophers.
The universal theme of self-cultivation and transformation connects each concept. Each one seeks to change our understanding the world or the life we are living. From Chinese xin and karma in Buddhist traditions to okwu in African philosophy, equity in Islamic thought and the good life in Aztec philosophy, an international team of philosophers cover a diverse set of ideas and theories originating from thinkers such as Confucius, Buddha, Dogen, Nezahualcoyotl, Nietzsche and Zhuangzi. Organised around the major themes of knowledge, metaphysics and aesthetics, each short chapter provides an introductory overview supported by a glossary.
This is a one-of-a-kind toolkit that allows you to read philosophical texts from all over the world and learn how their ideas can be applied to your own life.
Table of Contents:
List of Contributors
Preface “A Note on the “Key-Concepts” Approach and Diversification of Philosophical Curricula”, Sarah Flavel
Acknowledgments
Introduction, “Valuing diversity”, Chiara Robbiano
Part I: How We Acquire Knowledge about Ourselves and Reality
1. Action and Praxis, Jin Y. Park
2. Africa, Delphine Abadie
3. Ataraxia, Frans A.J. de Haas
4. Continuous Inquiry, Chiara Robbiano
5. Emptiness, Jason M. Wirth
6. Epistemic Decolonization of Culture, Omar Rivera
7. Ezumezu, Jonathan O Chimakonam
8. Gewu (Investigation of Things), Xiao Ouyang
9. “I” as the Absolute Present, Yoko Arisaka
10. Intellectual Non-Harming and Epistemic Friction, Anand Vaidya
11. Karma, Peter D. Hershock
12. Nature, Marzenna Jakubczak
13. Perspectival Agility, Sarah Flavel and Brad Hall
14. Relational Knowing, Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach
15. Relegational Arguments, Andrew K. Whitehead
16. Science Fiction in/as Philosophy, Ethan Mills
17. Shinjin Gakudô (Studying the Way with Body and Mind), Bret W. Davis
18. Shinjin-datsuraku (dropping the bodymind), Rein Raud
19. Prasanga Method, Ethan Mills
20. Unconditioned, Russell Re Manning
21. Vital Force, Pius M. Mosima
22. Zhi (Knowing), Aaron Creller
Part II: How We Cultivate Ourselves and Relate to Others
23. Double movement, Evgenia Ilieva
24. Duhkha (suffering), Stephen E. Harris
25. Equality, Hadeer Aboelnagah
26. I-Thou Relation, Michiko Yusa
27. Moral Responsiveness, Jay L. Garfield
28. Nepantla, James Maffie
29. Self-Cultivation and Political Power, Leah Kalmanson
30. The Good Life, Sebastian Purcell
31. Ubuntu/Botho, Michael Onyebuchi Eze
32. Ujamaa, Edwin Etieyibo
33. Wu wei, Yuan Zhang and Douglas L. Berger
34. Xin (Heart-mind), Dascha Düring
Part III: How We Express Ourselves
35. Concreteness, Paul Ziche
36. Conversationalism, Aribiah David Attoe
37. Creativity, Kiene Brillenburg Wurth
38. Diversity in Philosophy, Purushottama Bilimoria & Agnieszka Rostalska
39. Dôtoku (Expression), Gereon Kopf
40. Embodied Practice, John C. Maraldo
41. Kata, Enrico Fongaro
42. Li (Ritual), Geir Sigurðsson
43. Noh Theater Mask, Mayuko Uehara
44. Okwu, Jonathan O Chimakonam
45. Tôjisha kenkyû (participant-led research), Saku Hara
Index
About the Author :
Sarah Flavel is Reader in Asian and Comparative Philosophy at Bath Spa University, UK, and President of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy.
Chiara Robbiano is Associate Professor of Philosophy, Honours Director and Chair of the Diversity Committee at University College Utrecht, the Netherlands. She was also a Visiting Professor in the Graduate School of Arts and Letters Tohoku University, Japan.
Review :
This is a brilliantly conceived volume, aimed at encouraging recognition of the diversity of philosophical ideas across the various world traditions. Dipping into just a few of the chapters should convince anyone that there are no grounds whatsoever for philosophers to ignore key ideas outside their own cultural traditions.
Can there be a better way to "take the world as the world" in philosophy than recruiting a cadre of the very best scholars across the subfields of global philosophy with each writing a substantial piece on a concept usually associated with their own careers? Sarah Flavel and Chiara Robbiano at the helm of this great ship are indeed taking world philosophy towards the boundless horizon of Nietzsche's open sea.
Contemporary Anglo-European philosophy often appears to be nothing but a temple to the achievements of dead white men. Key Concepts in World Philosophies, by Sarah Flavel and Chiara Robbiano, is a powerful antidote to philosophical ethnocentrism. This anthology is like a philosophical box of chocolates, with wide selections of delicious, "bite-sized" chapters that broaden our philosophical horizons and expand our conceptual toolkits. It is useful for both the timid beginner and the jaded cosmopolitan.
