I went to a small liberal arts school. The philosophy department was tiny (only two professors, one of which also taught history and sociology), and only one o

I went to a small liberal arts school. The philosophy department was tiny (only two professors, one of which also taught history and sociology), and only one other person in my graduating class earned a degree in philosophy. While the much of my advanced work (400-level classes) focused on dead white guys (Ayer, Wittgenstein, Kierkegaard, Nietzsche), I had several classes on various flavors of non-western philosophy, reading, among other things, Confucius, Laozi, the Koran, and various Hindi texts. I wonder about the difference between the history of philosophy and philosophy. Few philosophers operate in a complete vacuum, so it isn't useful to have an overview of philosophical thought that had an impact on your particular area of study?