Conferences on Inter-Cultural Philosophy are held regularly. They draw academic philosophers from around the world, including China. Though cross-cultural dialogue is important, the philosophical premises behind inter-inter-cultural philosophy have become invalid and non-
The prefix ‘inter’ means between. Therefore the basic supposition of a word that begins with ‘inter’ is of the primacy of separate things, whether nation-states or cultures. In fact, the prefix ‘inter’ is meant to imply a bridge between two or more divided categories.
This isn’t an abstract philosophical point. As an organizer of one of the conferences emphatically stated: “Globalization is destroying particular cultures.” The underlying aim of intercultural philosophy, he maintained,is to “protect particular cultures in the world.”
That sounds like a reasonable, even unassailable goal. But it’s fair to ask, is the intercultural philosophical approach in fact contributing to the erosion of cultures?
Clearly it is. The fragmentary, intercultural approach undercuts the cultural diversity that it purports to uphold, since it turns on the premise of relativism, which is antithetical to universal philosophical insight and the good life in this de facto, disordered global society.
Inter-Cultural Philosophy is defined as “the endeavor to give expression to the many voices of philosophy in their respective cultural contexts.” As such, it raises a fundamental question: Is philosophy dependent on cultural context? Indeed, is it philosophy at all when cultural contexts are given primacy?
The root meaning of philosophy is the love of wisdom. To place philosophy within cultural contexts is to maintain that truth (even with a small ‘t’) is relative, when it isn’t.
That doesn’t mean truth is absolute, since absolutism is merely the flip side of the debased coin of the Enlightenment’s cornerstone, reason. Insight arises from and speaks to a dimension beyond particular cultures, irrespective of language, tradition or background.
If philosophy is solely, or even primarily a product of the cultures that give rise to it, then claims of universality are false and futile. In that case, purported insights into the human condition, not to mention our ever-elusive ‘human nature,’ are illusory. Clearly, that isn’t the case, as great literature, art, music, and philosophy from all lands attest.
The strawman that taking global approach to doing philosophy means that “there is only one way to live well“ is toppled by the worldwide tsunami of homogenization, driven by the rampant spread of individualism and consumerism.
Certainly we’re largely the products of our cultures and times, but they don’t determine us. For example, so-called mystical experiencing is essentially the same across cultures and ages. And one of the main tasks of philosophy in my view is to demystify ‘mystical experience.’
When words, images, memories, associations and knowledge cease operating, even for a few moments in the fully attentive human brain, one’s perception transcends culture.
In other words, a deeply quiet mind is free of the context and conditioning of culture. Far from emptiness being a terrifying experience, as most people imagine it, there is unbounded peace and joy in such a state of being, which is available to all human beings.
Philosophy, or at least an most important aspect of it, involves rationally exploring higher states of being: giving clear and testable (individually, not scientifically) explanations of ‘mystical experiencing;’ and communicating insights in such a way that others can replicate experiencing the nameless beyond and within their own cultural contexts. That is the wellspring of insight will keep a diversity of cultures alive and relevant in the age of globalization.
Paradoxically, a fragmentary, intercultural approach, which easily bleeds into a nationalistic mindset, is driving the very loss of cultural diversity that inter-cultural philosophy seeks to uphold.
Why don’t we live from wholeness now? In part because humans are social animals, whereas human beings first inwardly stand alone. Few people see the utter necessity of standing alone, but freedom has no real meaning if we don’t, and liberate ourselves from the shackles of culture and conditioning.
Going beyond our particular cultures, one’s mind is genuinely creative, and contributes to the creation of a new kind of culture.
Particular cultures, based on tradition, are things of the human past. Paradoxically, they can be preserved and retain meaning only to the degree that free individuals infuse them with insights into the whole of humanity.
Trying to preserve cultures in their particularity (the aim of intercultural philosophy) only increases fragmentation and erosion. That guarantees the attrition of indigenous and traditional cultures to the forces of globalization, with the loss of their richness and meanings for present and future peoples in the global civilization.
What are theouldn’t have the birth, decay and death of previous, particular cultures, because an authentically global civilization would be dying and being reborn in awakened individuals in every generation
Wholeness has no accretion. Therefore in the culture of ever-renewing human beings, computers will contain the cumulative growth of knowledge, to which anyone will have access at any time. The beliefs, traditions, rituals and mores of particular cultures — the rich soil of man’s past — will bee ongoing insight into them
It certainly isn’t a matter of “lusting after a dimension beyond particular cultures, irrespective of language, tradition, or background,” but of doing what philosophy purports to do – –seeking wisdom and living a good life.
Human beings now have the means to completely redefine the meaning of culture. Indeed, it is imperative that we now do so, or we will become cyborgs and slaves of the machines we are making.
Human life can and must be like the streams and rivers flowing down from the mountains, continually renewing itself.
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Cultural DiversityglobalizationIntercultural PhilosophyMartin LeFevrePhilosophyRelativismUniversalismWisdom
