Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto

245 Pages·2017·1.742 MB·English

by  Bryan W. Van Norden

TA K I N G B A C K
P H I L O S O P H Y
A Multicultural Manifesto
BRYAN W. VAN NORDEN
Foreword by Jay L. Garfield
TAKING BACK
PHILOSOPHY

TAKING BACK
PHILOSOPHY
A MULTICULTURAL MANIFESTO
BRYAN W. VAN NORDEN
Columbia University Press New York
Columbia University Press
Publishers Since 1893
New York Chichester, West Sussex
cup .columbia .edu
Copyright © 2017 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Van Norden, Bryan W. (Bryan William), author.
Title: Taking back philosophy: a multicultural manifesto /
Bryan W. Van Norden.
Description: New York: Columbia University Press, [2017] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017031091 | ISBN 9780231184366
(cloth: acid-free paper) | ISBN 9780231184373 (pbk.: acid-free paper) |
ISBN 9780231545457 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Philosophy.
Classification: LCC B53.V28 2017 | DDC 101—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017031091
Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and
durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
Cover design: Lisa Hamm
Cover photo: Herve BRUHAT/Gamma-Repho via Getty Images
To the Memory of
Rev. Charles E. Van Norden, DD (1843–1913)
our family’s first philosopher
and
Warner Montaigne Van Norden (1873–1959)
our family’s first Sinologist
1

I am a citizen of the world.
—Diogenes
Only those who are petty regard themselves as separate from
others solely because of the space between their bodies.
—Wang Yangming

CONTENTS
Foreword xi
Jay L. Garfield
Preface xxiii
1 A Manifesto for Multicultural Philosophy 1
Why Multicultural Philosophy? 3
A Second-Best Approach 8
The Quality Argument 12
Essentialist Ethnocentrism 16
The History of Philosophical Ethnocentrism 19
Avoiding Intellectual Imperialism 29
Where Do We Go from Here? 31
2 Traditions in Dialogue 38
Metaphysics 40
Political Philosophy 52
Ethics 62
Weakness of Will 72
Other Voices 82
3 Trump’s Philosophers 85
Building Racial Walls in American Politics 86