Philosophy in an Age of Postcolonialism

Authors

  • Joseph Prabhu California State University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/arsr.v25i2.123

Keywords:

Postcolonialism, philosophy, Orientalism, Hegel, Husserl, India, modernity, imperialism, knowledge and power

Abstract

This article aims at a postcolonial critique of the modern academic discipline, ‘philosophy’. For the most part it is seen and regards itself at present as a modern Western discipline founded in its contemporary form by Descartes, a view that overlooks the global history of the field. This essay focuses on two key modern, Western philosophers—Hegel and Husserl—and the legacy they have bequeathed. In critiquing them, the hope is to open the space for philosophy as a cross-cultural discipline, whose universality is achieved in and through a dialogue among equals.

Author Biography

  • Joseph Prabhu, California State University
    Joseph Prabhu is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA) and occasional Visiting Professor at the University of Chicago. He is active as both a scholar and a peace activist. He is editor of The Intercultural Challenge of Raimon Panikkar (Orbis Books, 1996) and co-editor of the two-volume Indian Ethics: Classical Traditions and Contemporary Challenges (Ashgate, 2007; Oxford University Press, 2011); he has three books in progress, Liberating Gandhi: Community, Empire and a Culture of Peace, Hegel, India and the Dark Face of Modernity and Human Rights in Cross-Cultural Perspective. He co-edited Re-Vision from 1995 to 2003. He is the past President of the international Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy (2008–2010) and the Program Chair for the Melbourne Parliament of the World’s Religions (2009). His awards include the Outstanding Professor Award of CSULA 2004–2005, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Soka Gakkai, USA, and a Commendation from the Southern California Committee of the Parliament of the World’s Religions. He serves on the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of the Council of a Parliament of the World’s Religions, as well as on the Advisory Board of the Toda Institute for Peace Research associated with Soka Gakkai International. He is Chair of the Southern California Committee of a Parliament of the World’s Religions, and sits on the Special Advisory Committee of the American Academy of Religions. In addition, he serves on a panel of experts advising the UN High Commission for Human Rights and the International Security Forum based in Geneva. He has lectured and taught at more than fifty universities either as visiting professor or as guest lecturer in Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe and the United States.

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Published

2012-10-15

Issue

Vol. 25 No. 2 (2012): Religion and Postcolonialism

Section

Articles

License

Equinox Publishing Ltd.

How to Cite

Prabhu, J. (2012). Philosophy in an Age of Postcolonialism. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 25(2), 123-138. https://doi.org/10.1558/arsr.v25i2.123