Philosophy in China ? Notes on a debate

Chinese philosophy has been the subject of many learned studies. Yet, it has been called into question whether such a subject exists at all. According to the understanding of a considerable number of both Western philosophers and sinologists, philosophy is an exclusively Western tradition invented by the Greeks and only much later imported into other cultures. As far as China is concerned, it has been argued that philosophy proper was absent due to linguistic, mental or developmental reasons. The article gives an account of these arguments, trying to show that they are informed by misunderstanding of both philosophy and ancient Chinese intellectual culture.La philosophie en Chine ? Notes sur un débat La philosophie chinoise a été l'objet de nombreuses études fort savantes. Toutefois, on est allé jusqu'à se demander si un tel objet existe. Si l'on en croit bon nombre de philosophes occidentaux et de sinologues, la philosophie est une tradition exclusivement européenne inventée par les Grecs et seulement bien plus tard importée dans d'autres cultures. Pour ce qui est de la culture chinoise, il a été affirmé que la philosophie à proprement parler en est absente, pour des raisons linguistiques, mentales ou développementales. L'article passe en revue ces arguments en s'efforçant de montrer qu'ils sont fondés sur une mauvaise compréhension autant de la philosophie que de la tradition intellectuelle de la Chine ancienne.Roetz Heiner. Philosophy in China ? Notes on a debate. In: Extrême-Orient, Extrême-Occident, 2005, n°27. Y a-t-il une philosophie chinoise ? Un état de la question, sous la direction de Anne Cheng. pp. 49-65

On Subjectivity and Secularity in Axial Age China

The Humanities Centre for Advanced Studies “Multiple Secularities – Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities” deals with topics, at least some of which I have myself dealt with throughout my sinological and philosophical life.1 I came to Frankfurt in autumn 1968: fascinated by Frankfurt School, I started studying sociology, but to my surprise this did not mean studying Critical Theory. Instead, it meant going through quite a conventional education in the social sciences, and moreover, it meant studying economics and statistics. This was not quite what I expected and after a few semesters I changed my major to philosophy. In need of a second subject, I chose sinology because of some vague interest in foreign cultures, and also because of the news coming from China at that time. It was the time of the Cultural Revolution that exerted a certain fascination on the German student movement especially since its revolutionary rhetoric differed so remarkably from the ossified language of Eastern European Marxist orthodoxy. So, like many members of my generation, I began to develop an interest in revolutionary China that was definitely not shared by my philosophy teachers – they were skeptical, at least to some extent.

On Subjectivity and Secularity in Axial Age China

The Humanities Centre for Advanced Studies “Multiple Secularities – Beyond the West, Beyond Modernities” deals with topics, at least some of which I have myself dealt with throughout my sinological and philosophical life.1 I came to Frankfurt in autumn 1968: fascinated by Frankfurt School, I started studying sociology, but to my surprise this did not mean studying Critical Theory. Instead, it meant going through quite a conventional education in the social sciences, and moreover, it meant studying economics and statistics. This was not quite what I expected and after a few semesters I changed my major to philosophy. In need of a second subject, I chose sinology because of some vague interest in foreign cultures, and also because of the news coming from China at that time. It was the time of the Cultural Revolution that exerted a certain fascination on the German student movement especially since its revolutionary rhetoric differed so remarkably from the ossified language of Eastern European Marxist orthodoxy. So, like many members of my generation, I began to develop an interest in revolutionary China that was definitely not shared by my philosophy teachers – they were skeptical, at least to some extent.