Abstract
The article considers the relation between Chinese philosophy as an academic discipline and Western philosophy. In the academy there are three ways Chinese philosophy can relate to Western philosophy: Chinese philosophy may see itself as the other of Western philosophy, Chinese philosophy may seek recognition from Western philosophy, and Chinese philosophy may refuse to see Western philosophy as the measure for what is philosophy. I consider scholars from each of these three positions as well as the debate between them. Through this review it becomes clear that the relation between Chinese and Western philosophy is an uneasy one. In conclusion I suggest that the relation between Chinese and Western philosophy is not a relation between two separate entities; the rise of Chinese philosophy is rather a symptom of the decline of Western learning.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bruya, Brian. 2015. “Introduction: Chinese Philosophy as a Resource for Problems in Contemporary Philosophy.” In The Philosophical Challenge from China, edited by Brian Bruya. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Ferraris, Maurizio. 2015. Introduction to New Realism. Trans. by Sarah De Sanctis. London: Bloomsbury.
Habermas, Jürgen. 1987. The Philosophical Discourse of Modernity. Trans. by Frederick Lawrence. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Hall, David L., and Roger T. Ames. 1995. Anticipating China: Thinking Through the Narratives of Chinese and Western Culture. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Hösle, Vittorio. 2018. Kritik der verstehenden Vernunft: Eine Grundlegung der Geisteswissenschaften. München: C. H. Beck.
Jullien, François. 2004. In Praise of Blandness: Proceeding from Chinese Thought and Aesthetics. New York: Zone Books.
______Jullien, François. 2014. On the Universal, the Uniform, the Common and Dialogue between Cultures. Cambridge: Polity.
Ma, Lin, and Jaap Van Brakel. 2016. Fundamentals of Comparative and Intercultural Philosophy. Albany: State University of New York Press.
Mou, Bo. 2015. “Quine’s Naturalized Epistemology and Zhuangzi’s Daoist Naturalism: How Their Constructive Engagement Is Possible.” In The Philosophical Challenge from China, edited by Brian Bruya. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Robinet, Isabelle. 1983. “Chuang tzu et le taoisme ’religieux’.” Journal of Chinese Religions 11: 55–105.
______Robinet, Isabelle. 1997. Taoism: Growth of a Religion. Trans. by P. Brooks. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Slingerland, Edward. 2019. Mind and Body in Early China: Beyond Orientalism and the Myth of Holism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Vattimo, Gianni. 2004. Nihilism and Emancipation. New York: Columbia University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Møllgaard, E. The Uneasy Relation between Chinese and Western Philosophy. Dao 20, 377–387 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-021-09786-9
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-021-09786-9