From Jay Garfield and Bryan W. Van Norden’s “If Philosophy Won’t Diversify, Let’s Call It What It Really Is,” http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/11/opinion/if-philosophy-wont-diversify-lets-call-it-what-it-really-is.html :
The vast majority of philosophy departments in the United States offer courses only on philosophy derived from Europe and the English-speaking world. … Given the importance of non-European traditions in both the history of world philosophy and in the contemporary world, and given the increasing numbers of students in our colleges and universities from non-European backgrounds, this is astonishing. … The present situation is hard to justify morally, politically, epistemically or as good educational and research training practice. … We therefore suggest that any department that regularly offers courses only on Western philosophy should rename itself “Department of European and American Philosophy.” This simple change would make the domain and mission of these departments clear, and would signal their true intellectual commitments to students and colleagues.
Comments on Garfield and Van Norden’s Editorial
(as of 15 May 2016; comment to suggest additional links):
- Anglophone Departments Aren’t “Departments of European and American Philosophy” by Brian Leiter, http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2016/05/anglophone-departments-arent-departments-of-european-and-american-philosophy.html
- When Someone Suggests Expanding the Canon by Amy Olberding, http://dailynous.com/2016/05/13/when-someone-suggests-expanding-the-canon/
- Diversity, “Neutrality,” Philosophy by John Drabinski, http://jdrabinski.com/2016/05/11/diversity-neutrality-philosophy/
- On the Very Idea of Non-Western Philosophy by Eric Schliesser, http://digressionsnimpressions.typepad.com/digressionsimpressions/2016/05/on-the-very-idea-of-non-western-philosophy.html
- The Still Invisible Dimension of “Western Philosophy” by John Protevi, http://proteviblog.typepad.com/protevi/2016/05/the-still-invisible-dimensions-of-western-philosophy.html
- Comments by Justin Smith, http://www.jehsmith.com/1/2016/05/garfield-and-van-norden-on-non-european-philosophy-.html
- Philosophical Diversity in US Philosophy Departments by DailyNous, http://dailynous.com/2016/05/11/philosophical-diversity-in-u-s-philosophy-departments
- Philosophy’s Gatekeepers by Leigh M. Johnson, http://www.readmorewritemorethinkmorebemore.com/2016/05/philosophys-gatekeepers.html
- Diversify or Die by Joshua Miller, http://www.anotherpanacea.com/2016/05/diversify-or-die/
- Diversifying the Philosophical Canon and Access to True Values by J. Edward Hackett http://www.philpercs.com/2016/05/diversifying-philosophical-canon-and-access-to-true-values.html
- Department of Euro-American Mathematics? by Michael Harris, https://mathematicswithoutapologies.wordpress.com/2016/05/12/department-of-euro-american-mathematics/
- Comments by Philosoraptor, http://philosoraptor.blogspot.com/2016/05/garfieldvan-norden-if-philosophy-wont.html
- Ordinary Philosophy on Garfield and Van Norden, https://ordinaryphilosophy.com/2016/05/11/o-p-recommends-if-philosophy-wont-diversify-a-critique-of-philosophys-lack-of-diversity/
- Reddit discussion: https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/4j0un6/whats_your_take_on_the_recent_nytimes_article/
- NYT Op-Ed: Supremacy of Western Culture “Hard to Justify,” by Mairead McArdle, http://newsbusters.org/blogs/culture/mairead-mcardle/2016/05/12/nyt-op-ed-supremacy-western-philosophy-hard-justify
- Warp, Weft, Way blog on Garfield and Van Norden in NYT, http://warpweftandway.com/garfield-norden-nyt/
