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Is the author perhaps thinking of something more like "history of philosophy"? What you say about philosophy being more like mathematics is true, and as far as

Is the author perhaps thinking of something more like "history of philosophy"? What you say about philosophy being more like mathematics is true, and as far as I can see, going forward philosophy is just philosophy, and it would be silly to label it with nations and cultures. But looking backwards, the path that brought different cultures to the table, that got them thinking about the nature of things, is quite different. Labeling those different paths according to the cultures that developed them makes sense, and might be a very interesting study. But that's not philosophy as such, it's a discussion about philosophy.

krutulis 10y ago
Yes, I agree. The history of philosophy is an important part of philosophy, not all of philosophy. I studied the subject nearly 30 years ago and can only recall the history courses as having a decisive Western bias (though not a monopoly). I believe all the courses were correctly labeled, and I can remember at least one embarrassed explanation that other traditions could not be included. I am curious how the bias might affect topics like contemporary epistemology, logic, or the philosophy of science or of mathematics?
- Scarblac 10y ago
  The very idea that something like logic is part of philosophy is Western, I think. The ancient Greek philosophers studied logic, and therefore modern Western philosophers still do. I don't think people with an African or Chinese or whatever background would even consider that a natural part of the subject. They probably would consider other topics that are not included in our philosophy programs.
  - adrianratnapala 10y ago
    I'd put it the other way around. Philosophy is a Greek word, and the collection of subjects it encompasses is part of a tradition inherited from the Greeks (as similar think applies to Religion and the Romans). However, other people do have the same concerns, though they might package it differently. So logic is hard to escape and was studied everywhere, but whether it was studied alongside Grammar, Metaphysics or Mathematics -- well that could vary a bit.
    - Retric 10y ago
      The connection is closer to Philosophy <-> Law <-> Logic <-> Philosophy than Philosophy containing Logic. In context much of this discourse relates to their system of government. PS: There is a great comedy about this stuff from the roman republic which has a great scene that roughly translates as: A: Yay communism! B: Who would work the fields? A: Why the slaves of course! Anyway, stripped from context it's really easy to misread many of their arguments.
- Retric 10y ago
  There are many huge biases at the core of all western philosophy. 'Self' as a meaningful separate unit is one of them. To take a slightly different take on a famous quote. 'It is presumed that I exist and I think, therefore I exist.' Even logic stems from a way of thinking, A and !A could both be true if you step out of the mindset of Truth with a T. The problem with looking at world philosophy is you find 'western' philosophy is an ecco chamber as far from math as literary criticism. PS: Not to offend people, but a huge chunk of western philosophy was so closely tied to religious thinking it's actually painful to read. Though this stuff is often a footnote in most philosophy programs.
  - shanacarp 10y ago
    I'm very confused as to why this is voted down. There is truth to this statement. Nothing wrong with saying that binary systems of logical proofs, based on things like "Self" is important to the history of philosophy in the west
mcguire 10y ago
Out of curiosity, what are some of the propositions that are universally agreed to be true in philosophy? Something akin to arithmetic and basic algebra, say?

krutulis 10y ago

Yes, I agree. The history of philosophy is an important part of philosophy, not all of philosophy. I studied the subject nearly 30 years ago and can only recall the history courses as having a decisive Western bias (though not a monopoly). I believe all the courses were correctly labeled, and I can remember at least one embarrassed explanation that other traditions could not be included. I am curious how the bias might affect topics like contemporary epistemology, logic, or the philosophy of science or of mathematics?

Scarblac 10y ago
The very idea that something like logic is part of philosophy is Western, I think. The ancient Greek philosophers studied logic, and therefore modern Western philosophers still do. I don't think people with an African or Chinese or whatever background would even consider that a natural part of the subject. They probably would consider other topics that are not included in our philosophy programs.
- adrianratnapala 10y ago
  I'd put it the other way around. Philosophy is a Greek word, and the collection of subjects it encompasses is part of a tradition inherited from the Greeks (as similar think applies to Religion and the Romans). However, other people do have the same concerns, though they might package it differently. So logic is hard to escape and was studied everywhere, but whether it was studied alongside Grammar, Metaphysics or Mathematics -- well that could vary a bit.
  - Retric 10y ago
    The connection is closer to Philosophy <-> Law <-> Logic <-> Philosophy than Philosophy containing Logic. In context much of this discourse relates to their system of government. PS: There is a great comedy about this stuff from the roman republic which has a great scene that roughly translates as: A: Yay communism! B: Who would work the fields? A: Why the slaves of course! Anyway, stripped from context it's really easy to misread many of their arguments.
Retric 10y ago
There are many huge biases at the core of all western philosophy. 'Self' as a meaningful separate unit is one of them. To take a slightly different take on a famous quote. 'It is presumed that I exist and I think, therefore I exist.' Even logic stems from a way of thinking, A and !A could both be true if you step out of the mindset of Truth with a T. The problem with looking at world philosophy is you find 'western' philosophy is an ecco chamber as far from math as literary criticism. PS: Not to offend people, but a huge chunk of western philosophy was so closely tied to religious thinking it's actually painful to read. Though this stuff is often a footnote in most philosophy programs.
- shanacarp 10y ago
  I'm very confused as to why this is voted down. There is truth to this statement. Nothing wrong with saying that binary systems of logical proofs, based on things like "Self" is important to the history of philosophy in the west

mcguire 10y ago

Out of curiosity, what are some of the propositions that are universally agreed to be true in philosophy? Something akin to arithmetic and basic algebra, say?