World of Philosophy

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan

Page 340

Sukhlalji has rightly acknowledged that intercultural understanding of different philosophical traditions is possible as it has been illustrated by many authentic contributions of the Western scholars on Indian traditions. I would also add that authentic understanding has been possible on the part of for example, the classical and contemporary Jaina philosophers regarding the non-Jaina Indian traditions This illustrates that in one sense, philosophy, as reflection on certain common fundamental conceptual problems of knowledge and reality in general, is a universal project, but at the same time, as text-based analysis, philosophy is a culture-specific- historical project. Still there can be genuine intercultural understanding on the part of the Western scholars of the historically, geographically and culturally different philosophical traditions. The same applies to Indian scholars of the Western traditions. If we agree, in principle, that S. Radhakrishnan has understood Kant, Hegel or Bradley, then we can not deny in principle, that Halbfass can have a right understanding of Vaiśesika system.
Famous Western thinkers like Hegel, Husserl and Heidegger, shared Eurocentric attitudes to Indian thought, arguing that philosophy is essentially Greek and is therefore basically European. Of course, neither Eurocentrism nor Indocentrism or any other approach in the name of Orientalism or Occidentalism or any other such attitude can be helpful in authentic intercultural understanding.
The Problem of cultural authenticity versus intercultural universality.
The problem of philosophy as cultural or national or regional selfexpression of society through certain historical periods may lead also to the idea that only certain cultures, nations or languages comprise genuine philosophies. For example, it had been claimed by many that there is no such thing as African philosophy and that anything resembling African philosophy has been imported from Europe or from Arab scholars who got it from the West. The same problem of universalism versus cultural authenticity has been raised about the Latin American philosophy also. It has also been argued that there need not be any single world-wide philosophy in which everyone participates in the name of universality and similarly, and there need not be a totally culture-specific untranslatable philosophy in the name of cultural-regional authencity or national traditions..
Bruce Zanz has raised the following questions here;- When we speak of German or African philosophy do we refer to contingent or necessary feature of philosophy? Is philosophical thought unaffected by the places in which it is practiced?
Do the ethnic, racial or national commitments of practitioners of philosophy affect the philosophy that is done?
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