Building a Global Canon

In Western universities, philosophy is often taught by studying mostly Western authors. This is often criticized, and rightly so: first, this approach can reinforce the stereotype of a philosophy as a Western-looking person, which in turn may lead to a feeling of non-belonging among students with different backgrounds. Second, not including other traditions also means missing out on fruitful and interesting perspectives that can enrich both teaching and research.

This project aims at further developing existing concepts of including non-Western perspectives and texts in philosophy courses. We want to place special emphasis on not simply „tagging on“ such materials, but to integrate it by stressing historical connections and shared interests across different traditions.

Materials relevant to this project:

Sieroka, N. (2024). Recurrent Aspects of Ancient Chinese, Greek, and Near Eastern World Maps. Ancient Philosophy 44(2), S. 487-506.
Lossau, T. (2022). Poster titled „Structuring Inclusive Syllabi for Introductions to the Philosophy of Religion”.