A Practical Guide to World Philosophies: Selves, Worlds, and Ways of Knowing (Bloomsbury Introductions to World Philosophies)

third-party websites referred to or in this book. All internet addresses given in this book were correct at the time of going to press. The authors and publisher regret any inconvenience caused if addresses have changed or sites have ceased to exist, but can accept no responsibility for any such changes. Contents Acknowledgments vi 1 Why World Philosophies? 2 World Philosophies in Historical Perspective 3 Relational Knowing, Self-Making, and the Study of World Philosophies 4 Knowledge Claims and Locality: The Grand Narrative of Universal Knowledge 5 What's in a Name? Labeling Traditions 6 Conclusion Teaching Notes and Further Reading Notes References Index Acknowledgments Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach and Leah Kalmanson would like to thank Colleen Coalter at Bloomsbury Publishing for her advocacy, from the start, for the critical and creative aims of our book series Introductions to World Philosophies. Leah would like to acknowledge the abiding support she continues to receive from those faculty members in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Hawai'i at Mānoa who served on her dissertation committee in 2010: Vrinda Dalmiya, Roger Ames, Steve Odin, and Graham Parkes have always encouraged and enabled the kind of critical self-reflection that makes her work on the book series possible. Looking back even further, she wants to express her debt to her father Neil Kalmanson, whose vast collection of Asian philosophical texts in her childhood home in Georgia undoubtedly put her on the course she follows to this day. Monika appreciates the role of her philosophical mentors in shaping her interests in philosophy. Both Ratan Karani in India and Hubert Schleichert in Germany taught her to be cognizant of the larger sociopolitical dimension of academic philosophy; the latter emboldened Monika to work on a more adequate conceptual framework for studying world philosophies. Her mother, an early supporter of the perspective developed in this book, welcomed the prospect of her daughter finally embarking on a book project for a nonspecialist audience. Although Kunda Kirloskar passed away shortly before this book's publication, she followed the book's making closely. Finally, we are thankful to our series' regional editors for their support in shaping this series and for their long and rich conversations about world philosophies. Traditions throughout the world and across history have tackled fundamental questions about the human condition. This one-of-a-kind guide shows how these different philosophies can be effectively studied together. Monika Kirloskar-Steinbach's and Leah Kalmanson's introduction marks a break from conventional approaches. Instead of assuming philosophy has always operated with a single, easily identifiable conceptual framework across space and time, which we call-and have always called-philosophy, they attest to the plurality of concepts and methods adopted at different times and places. The book serves as a practical teaching guide to the theoretical and methodological diversification of philosophy as practiced in academia today. Complementing the Bloomsbury Introductions to World Philosophies series, it covers a variety of traditions featured in the book series, exploring how Anglo-American, Chinese, Indian, African, Islamicate, and Maori thinkers have all addressed fundamental questions such as: How do we understand ourselves and our relations to others? How do we understand our world? How do we seek knowledge, share knowledge, and, importantly, intervene in the norms of received knowledge when needed? Featuring teaching notes, discussion questions, and a list of further reading, this is a book packed with the background, guidance, and tools required to teach different philosophies. Through it we come to see why making room for different conceptual frameworks improves our understanding of ourselves and the worlds we live in. -- Provided by publisher "Offering a teaching guide for instructors looking to broaden their view of philosophy, diversify their teaching, or discover a new way of thinking about our place in the world, this book explores how Anglo-American, Chinese, Indian, African, Islamic, and Maori thinkers have all addressed fundamental questions in philosophy. Featuring teaching notes, discussion questions, and a list of further reading, this is a book packed with the background, guidance, and tools required to teach different philosophies"-- Provided by publisher Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Why World Philosophies? Chapter 2: World Philosophies in Historical Perspective Chapter 3: Relational Knowing, Self-Making, and the Study of World Philosophies Chapter 4: Knowledge Claims and Locality: The Grand Narrative of Universal Knowledge Chapter 5: What’s in a Name?: Labeling Traditions Conclusion Teaching Notes and Further Reading Notes References Index