Making Philosophy wise again
How a profound engagement with Asian philosophies can remind us what loving wisdom is for
When did the love of wisdom (philo-sophia) turn into pointless intelluctual machinations? What are the underlying assumptions of what philosophy is in the west today?
Philo-sophia for many in the past and present signifies a practice, a way of life.
On September 28 at 17:00-18:45BST, we’ve invited Aamir for an online conversation with us on this very topic. The lens he brings and that he is currently researching at Oxford is how a serious engagement with Asian (and in his case, with a focus on Indian) philosophies might help change our ways of practicing philosophy and enrich our understanding of what it is for.
While there is a recent trend of asian philosophies being introduced more in universities and western thought, there are those who fear this is being done superficially, stuck in a contemporary western understanding of what philosophy is and does.
So, how can we, in the west, breathe new life into philo-sophia for a wiser world?
The need for profound change has been noted for some time and correlates with a decades-long identity crisis in academic philosophy. Professionalisation, bureaucratisation, and specialisation now define the lives of many within academic institutions. Philosophers today often spend more time hunting for grants than reading and thinking. Confronted with an explosion of literature on any given topic, many have had to abandon their once-expansive ambitions as they retreat further and further into the caverns of specialisation — not exactly the vision of the philosophical life that may have once inspired a Plato-reading youth. Because of this, many people both inside and outside the academy find it difficult to say what the purpose of doing academic philosophy is.
Above are some of Aamir’s opening reflections in a recent article in Epoché on The Transformative Potential of Asian Philosophies.