Comparative philosophy is a subfield of philosophy in which philosophers work on problems by intentionally setting into dialogue sources from across cultural, linguistic, and philosophical streams. The ambition and challenge of comparative philosophy is to include all the philosophies of global humanity in its vision of what is constituted by philosophy. Comparative philosophers most frequently engage topics in dialogue between modern Western (American and Continental European) and Classical Asian (Chinese, India and Japanese) traditions, but work has been done using materials and approaches’ from Islamic and African philosophical traditions as well as from classical Western traditions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam).
This approach distinguishes comparative philosophy from several other approaches to philosophy. First. comparative philosophy is distinct from both area studies philosophy (in which philosophers investigate topics in particular cultural traditions, (Buddhism) and world philosophy in which philosophers construct a philosophical system based on the fullness of global traditions of thought. Second, comparative philosophy differs from more traditional philosophy in which ideas are compared among thinkers within a particular tradition; comparative philosophy intentionally compares the ideas of thinkers of very different traditions, especially culturally distinct traditions.
The unique approach of comparative philosophy also comes unique difficulties and challenges that are not as characteristic of doing philosophy within a particular tradition. Such difficulties to be avoided include descriptive chauvinism (recreating another tradition in the image of one's own), normative skepticism (merely narrating or describing the views of different philosophers and traditions. suspending all judgment about their adequacy), incommensurability (the inability to find the common ground among traditions needed as a basis for comparison), and perennialism (failure to realize that philosophical traditions evolve, that they are not perennial in the sense of being monolithic). Furthermore, since comparative philosophy involves an approach that is not dominant in academic philosophy, it has been somewhat neglected by the mainstream of the profession." However, comparative philosophy is fairly early in its developmental stages.
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