My initial post:
Top of Form
The emergence of philosophies of women and people of various cultures and races has compelled the dominant Western philosophies to become more cosmopolitan and reduce their xenophobic tendencies. The philosophies have increasingly stopped ignoring the traditions of women and these groups. Historically, Western philosophies have been systematically disadvantaging women and people of various cultures and races because of their narrow-minded views (Stanford, 2021). The knowledge practices of Western philosophies have been discriminative to these groups. Markedly, it has been excluding them from philosophical inquiry and neglecting their knowledge practices. Furthermore, the theories from these dominant philosophies have been depicting them as deviant or inferior. This has adverse consequences on women and people from other cultures and races. It enhances negative stereotypes about them and gender bias. This devalues members of these categories leading to their discrimination in the social and economic opportunities.
Since the philosophies of women and people of various cultures and races started to rise, Western philosophies have taken another trajectory. The philosophies are less sexist and racist. To this effect, Western philosophies’ theories of women as inferior and some cultures as uneducable and deviant have reduced (Møllgaard, 2021). Western philosophies have started including women and people from other races and cultures in the knowledge processes by considering their points of view. Western philosophies inform the main philosophical discourse of Western philosophies. In this regard, the emergence of “other voices” has changed the object of philosophical discourse. Affirmative efforts have become central in Western philosophy, whereby modern Western philosophers are calling advocating for equality of humans (Møllgaard, 2021). Markedly, they have deviated from the social hierarchies that depict men as superior to women. These philosophers are also addressing the misconceptions that have been existing concerning marginalized social groups.
The traditions of Non-Western philosophies are different from those of Western philosophical tradition in some ways but also similar in some ways. The difference is that non-Western traditions are indigenous, while Western traditions are modern. In light of this, Western traditions are largely civilized, while non-Western traditions are non-civilized (Stanford, 2021). This leads to the departure of their thinking patterns. They are similar in the sense of how gender roles have been socially constructed. Women in both traditions have been assigned lighter roles, and men have dominant power over them. Nonetheless, after the emergence of the philosophies of women and other subordinated groups, Western philosophy expanded to include the knowledge indigenous knowledge processes of these groups.
References
Møllgaard, E. (2021). The Uneasy Relation between Chinese and Western Philosophy. Dao?: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy, 20(3), 377–387. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11712-021-09786-9
Stanford. (2021, May 20). Feminist History of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/feminism-femhis…
Their response to me…..
Respond to the following:
Response 1: MS
RE: When East and West Meet
Top of Form
The traditions of Non-Western philosophies are different from those of Western philosophical tradition in some ways but also similar in some ways. The difference is that non-Western traditions are indigenous, while Western traditions are modern.
Western traditions are modern, Amanda? They go back to ancient Greece, several centuries before Christ. But you are right that western and non-western traditions are different in many ways. Although, as discussed above, due to colonialism, Latin American and African philosophies have been interacting with each other for a long time, so much so that they cannot be entirely separated.
Which makes it interesting to discuss compare eastern philosophy. Until just a few centuries ago, interaction between the east and west was extremely limited, so the two cultures developed largely in isolation. So the arrival (invasion?) of the U.S. Navy in Japan in the 1850s led to a huge culture clash. Japan had had little contact with western culture before then, but this new exposure to different cultures affected both cultures. Japanese culture had a huge impact on western art and philosophy, in particular.
Eastern philosophies, especially those tied to Daoism and Buddhism, emphasize that all we have is the present moment, so we should live fully in each moment by practicing mindfulness. Also, western philosophy tends to be more dualistic, as when we were forced to choose between rationalism and empiricism in Week 2, while eastern philosophies tend to be more holistic, seeing both sides of the coin as one coin, as represented in the Yin-Yang symbol:
Many elements of various eastern philosophies have since entered western culture — meditation, mindfulness, yoga, martial arts, etc. — but most have lost much of the philosophical context of their practice in the east, been turned into tools for exercise or relaxation. Does this imply philosophical traditions are intimately tied to the cultures in which they develop and must be “adapted,” or “translated.” literally and figuratively. when they enter different culture?
Response 2: TF
RE: Discussion: Weeks 3–4
Top of Form
In society all throughout history men and women have held many different roles. An example of a different role in a career field is in philosophy, and although women worked in the field their work was often dismissed or would go unnoticed. “Feminist historians of philosophy have argued that the historical record is incomplete because it omits women philosophers, and it is biased because it devalues any women philosophers it forgot to omit” (Edward N. Zalta ). When thinking about philosophers a lot of the time you think of men such as Plato or Aristotle and you don’t hear much about the women in the field like Hypatia who was a philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt and was alive 415 AD.
In many cultures its not about the sex of the individual its also about race of that individual. “This bias arises out of the implicit belief that philosophy is the privileged activity of certain races. He believed that this unjustified belief had further led to the image of philosophy as the restricted property of Greeks, or Europeans, and, even more exclusively, the property of white males” (Edward N. Zalta). When discussing philosophy it’s weird to think about how all these discoveries were made but they still viewed people of color and women less superior to them even though they were still involved. I still believe that things are not equal now like they should be now between races and even sexes but I believe that we as humans have come a long way from where we were.