Publication

If You Show Me Yours: Reading all “Difference” as “Colonial Difference” in Comparative Philosophy

Kalmanson, Leah
Author(s)
Kalmanson, Leah
Contributor(s)
Keywords
comparative philosophy
cross-cultural philosophy
postcolonial studies
decolonization
GE Subjects
Collections
Intercultural Ethics
Show all metadata
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12424/3988892
Online Access
https://globethics.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/1757063815Z.00000000062
Abstract
Postcolonial studies and decolonial theory make visible the nature and extent of Eurocentrism through a critique of constructed categories as basic as “history” and “culture.” Walter Mignolo asserts a strong claim that the concept of “culture” is itself a colonial construction, and hence all cultural difference bears the mark of coloniality. This thesis presents a challenge to the field of comparative philosophy: What does “cross-cultural” philosophy even mean if all so-called cultural difference is indeed colonial difference? Could comparativists, in the wake of this critique, preserve the possibility of cross-cultural philosophical inquiry even when basic terms of discourse (such as “culture”) are suspended? This essay is a thought experiment in accepting Mignolo's general premise that all cultural difference is colonial difference, through which I offer three strategies for philosophizing comparatively under this constraint: (1) historical contextualization, (2) subversive categorization, and (3) decentralization.
Note(s)
Topic
Type
Article
Date
2015-05-04
Identifier
TANDF-10.1179/1757063815Z.00000000062
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1179/1757063815Z.00000000062
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1179/1757063815Z.00000000062
ISSN-PRINT-1757-0638
ISSN-ELECT-1757-0646
ISBN
DOI
10.1179/1757063815Z.00000000062
Copyright/License
© W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2015
Embedded videos