Centuries of dialogue: Asia and the West lecture series
University of King's College
Fall 2014
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Course Description
Far from being isolated civilizations that historically had little or no contact with one another until only recently, the cultural complexes of Europe, South and East Asia have undergone major periods of commerce, political conflict and dialogue for at least the last 2,500 years. This lecture series will explore some of the most important philosophical engagements of Western thinkers from the eighteenth century to the twentieth centuries, such as Leibniz, Montesquieu, Schopenhauer, and Dewey with various aspects of South and East Asian thought, and their attempts to appropriate various aspects, as they understood them, of these traditions, especially their “metaphysical,” “logical,” “scientific” and “ethical” dimensions into their own worldviews and agendas. We will also explore these very aspects of South and East Asian thought that intrigued modern to contemporary Western thinkers, such as classical Indian scholastic argumentation, Chinese yin-yang theory and ethics in their own intellectual and cultural context, and examine how Western values and projects look in their lights. Nationally and internationally renowned scholars in related fields will be joining us throughout the term. Following the journey of recent centuries of dialogue between these civilizations will hopefully prompt further, but better-informed and multi-perspectival reflection on the present and future of Western and Asian intellectual and global relations.