Periodical Title | The New York Times: The Stone |
Author(s) | Jay L. Garfield; Bryan W. Van Norden |
Abstract | This opinion piece argues that philosophy departments in the U.S. that only teach Western philosophy should rename themselves “Department of European and American Philosophy” to accurately reflect their focus. Despite efforts to diversify, only 10% of doctoral programs have a specialist in Chinese philosophy and just 15% have any faculty teaching non-Western philosophy. No other humanities field shows such neglect of most civilizations in its domain. Renaming would make these departments’ commitments clear to students and colleagues. Some defend only teaching Western philosophy by claiming non-European philosophy belongs in area studies, but the authors counter that this is sophistry since non-Western traditions offer distinct solutions to philosophical problems. They argue broadening the philosophical curriculum, rather than renaming, would be more valuable, but if departments won’t diversify they should at least be honest. As philosophy aims to become more diverse, the change seems inevitable. This content was generated by artificial intelligence using the text of the original work. |
Published Keywords | philosophy, diversity, representation, curriculum, Eurocentrism This content was generated by artificial intelligence using the text of the original work. |
Date Published | May 11, 2016 |
URL | https://scholar.google.ca/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5&q=If+Philosophy+Won%E2%80%99t+Diversify%2C+Let%E2%80%99s+Call+It+What+It+Really+Is&btnG= |
Open Access? | No |
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