Published since August 20, 2016

Yearbook for Eastern and Western Philosophy

ISSN: 2196-5897

Edited by: Hans Feger, Xie Dikun, Wang Ge

About this journal

The Yearbook for Eastern and Western Philosophy is a forum for philosophers and academics from China, Germany, and Europe. It facilitates exchange between academic cultures and develops joint fields of research while also consolidating and coordinating social-scientific ties and research projects. A focus is placed on Eastern and Western philosophical traditions as well as on topics in religious studies, cultural studies, politics, and law.

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Topics

Volume 6 Issue 1

June 2021

Frontmatter

Publicly Available June 19, 2023

Frontmatter

Page range: I-VIII

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June 19, 2023

Editorial Preface

Page range: V-VI

Open Access June 19, 2023

Preface

Hans Feger

Page range: 1-2

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Western Approach to Chinese Philosophy as a Methodological Problem

June 19, 2023

The Other Between. Critical Reflections on François Jullien’s Approach to “Chinese Thought”

Fabian Heubel

Page range: 3-34

June 19, 2023

Philosophy Between Interpenetration and Juxtaposition

Margus Ott

Page range: 35-48

Abstract

While talking about comparative philosophy, we should presumably know what philosophy is. In this paper, the concepts of interpenetration, intensity, and juxtaposition are proposed as philosophical tools to analyse phenomena, including philosophy itself. The axis of interpenetration-juxtaposition is discussed in three domains: embodiment, speaking, and thinking. The role of philosophy is seen, on different levels of interpenetration, as redistribution of concepts, resonance of intensities, and thawing of actualities. In comparative philosophy involving texts from different traditions, these effects should be especially notable.

June 19, 2023

The Touch of Kongzi’s Irony and Reflections on Methodology

Dimitra Amarantidou

Page range: 49-62

Abstract

Scholars have often recognized the “touch of irony” in Kongzi’s “collected conversations” ( Lunyu 論語 or Analects of Confucius ). Some interpreters have taken the ironic face as one of his faces. Others have celebrated the ironic Kongzi as the “true” depiction of the Master. This paper presents two seemingly contrasting images of Kongzi – the non-ironic sage and the ironic non-sage – and looks at their assumptions. I then explore the methodological implications of taking the Master’s irony seriously. I argue that, touching upon irony, any interpretation is necessarily touched by it – it renders itself ironic. Finally, I discuss the post-comparative approach as an ironic approach. Post-comparative readings recognize that identity is the necessary condition for the transformation of identity. In this way, Kongzi’s irony is transformed by but also transforms more familiar, non-Chinese discourses on irony.

Open Access June 19, 2023

Getting to Know Knowing-as as Knowing

Michael Beaney

Page range: 63-86

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Abstract

In ‘Swimming Happily in Chinese Logic’ (2021) I suggested that the root conception of knowing for the ancient Chinese Mohists was knowing-as, a conception that fits well with perspectivism in the Zhuangzi , a key Daoist text. Drawing on Wittgenstein’s discussion of both seeing-as and samples, and developing the analogy between seeing-as and knowing-as, I explore various forms of knowing with particular reference to the Mozi , in attempting to make sense of ancient Chinese epistemology and thereby shed light on the whole phenomenon of knowing.

June 19, 2023

Nothingness and Neutrality

Mario Wenning

Page range: 87-100

Abstract

Nothingness has become a prominent research topic in recent intercultural philosophy. An Eastern concern for nothingness is frequently juxtaposed to a Western philosophy of being. Rather than adopting a contrastive approach, this chapter proposes a critical conception of nothingness in a twofold sense. First, nothingness is related to human experience and action. Secondly, a transcultural conception of nothingness highlights the incongruity between distinctive domains of human experience between and within cultures. Departing from Roland Barthes’ aesthetic approach to nothingness in terms of “the neutral,” the chapter argues for a practice of inter-cultural philosophy that reveals the in-between spaces, the interstices, and voids in modern societies.

Western Approach to Chinese Philosophy as a Problem of Cultural Studies

Open Access June 19, 2023

Reflections on the Methodology of a Cross-Cultural Dialogue Between China and the ‘West’

Karl-Heinz Pohl

Page range: 101-116

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June 19, 2023

Comparative Cultural Hermeneutics as Method

Roger T. Ames

Page range: 117-128

Open Access June 19, 2023

Transcultural Sublation of Concepts and Objects through the Lens of Adorno and Gongsun Long

Jana S. Rošker

Page range: 129-160

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Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to demonstrate a new approach to transcultural postcomparative philosophy, which may be tentatively called “the method of sublation,” using the example of Adorno and Gong Sunlong’s respective views on the relationship between concepts and objects. The term sublation is a neologism commonly used to translate Hegel’s idea of Aufhebung . It is derived from the Latin term sublatio , for its original meaning covered all three crucial connotations of Hegel’s Aufhebung – to lift up, to preserve and to eliminate. The method thus encompasses all three of these three notions that are crucial to any process of creating something new from the interactions between two or more distinct discourses. In this philosophical sense, it has the three meanings of producing, eliminating, and preserving arguments, propositions, or ideas. Moreover, unlike “synthesis” the term “sublation” refers to a process rather than a stage. The sublation method aims to develop new forms of transcultural philosophizing and to overcome the impasses of traditional comparative approaches through procedures of “conceptual comparison” rather than relying only on the “comparison of concepts”. It starts from similarities and differences identified in the basic paradigms of different culturally and semantically defined frames of reference, and uses the method of discursive translation to transfer meanings across different languages and ideational traditions. Through a contrastive analysis of the similarities and differences between Adorno’s and Gongsun Longs conceptions of concepts and objects (or names and realities, respectively), the paper demonstrates the importance of considering different culturally conditioned paradigms and frames of reference in order to gain new, more complex, and more pluralistic philosophical insights.

June 19, 2023

Reading the Zhongyong 中庸 in Times of Cultural Upheaval

Wolfgang Schwabe

Page range: 161-170

Abstract

The appearance of a modern, self-confident China has started to raise concern in the West. Policies are being re-evaluated, “China competence” is the buzz word of the hour. But these reactions cannot conceal the fact that the West is utterly unprepared to come intellectually to terms with this new reality. Philosophers with sinological knowledge tend to measure China by standards developed in the West and judge it accordingly. This approach to China has been extensively criticized by Hermes Spiegel. (See Hermes Spiegel, China liegt nah , Hamburg: Meiner 2020). Fabian Heubel shows in his new book that the underlying assumptions about China in the current discourse do not only shape the understanding of China, but also hamper the discussion about China between the French- and German speaking academic community. (See Fabian Heubel, Was ist Chinesische Philosophie? Kritische Perspektiven , Hamburg: Meiner 2021, p.188–200). This paper wants to change the perspective and assess the renewed interest in the Chinese intellectual heritage within China from an inner-Chinese, historical perspective. Based on the reading of four commentaries to the classical Confucian text Zhongyong it argues that there is nothing new about this quest for cultural renewal. Contrarily, China has been continuously re-inventing itself by producing new cultural models based on the interpretation of texts seen as constituting the core of Chinese civilization. By introducing four such attempts to revitalize Chinese civilization through exegesis, the paper pursues two different, but related aims. For one, it wants to substitute the static understanding of China for a dynamic one. Only when the interplay of intellectual and historical forces in China is taken seriously, the range, wealth and flexibility of intellectual life in China can be appreciated. Because of these qualities, radically different attitudes, values and political systems can be and were advocated based on the very same tradition. By adopting a historical perspective on the current development in China, the paper wants secondly to open up the possibility of a meaningful dialogue with China.

June 19, 2023

Diverging into the Untranslatable. George Steiner, Paul Ricœur and François Jullien

Natalie Chamat

Page range: 171-182

Abstract

George Steiner famously declared that, after Babel, all understanding is translating. Poetry and philosophy turn out to pose the challenge of untranslatability. In my paper, I map out the complex intertwining of translation and hermeneutics, including the interplay of interpretation. Moving from Steiner’s fidelity cycle to Ricœurs linguistic hospitality, a shift of accent from the concepts of difference, identity and universality towards distance and encounter can be observed. With regard to translation as metaphor, understanding metaphor, the necessity of reflecting upon one’s own language is taken into account. To challenge untranslatabilities and rethink the ‘living’ aspect of translation Jullien’s divergence into the possible polarity of reliability and sincerity proposes an opening.

Western Approach to Chinese Philosophy as Global Philosophy

Open Access June 19, 2023

The Need for Global Philosophy

Stefan Gosepath

Page range: 183-198

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June 19, 2023

Global Post-Comparative Philosophy as Just Philosophy

Arindam Chakrabarti, Ralph Weber

Page range: 199-220

June 19, 2023

Global Philosophy: Starting from Philosophical Theorizing

Philippe Brunozzi

Page range: 221-234

June 19, 2023

Who is Afraid of François Jullien? Some Thoughts on the Political and Philosophical Implications of an “Untimely” Thinking

Kai Marchal

Page range: 235-244

Abstract

In my essay, I critically discuss the work of the French philosopher and sinologist François Jullien. First, I reconstruct the social and political context from which Jullien’s thinking emerged in the late 1970 s and 1980 s. Second, I analyze a number of philosophical and sinological premises underlying his interpretation of Chinese and European thought. By comparing his interpretation of traditional Chinese thought with other approaches, it is possible to get a better understanding of Jullien’s creative appropriation of the other. I conclude by pointing out perspectives for future research.

Open Access June 19, 2023

Revolution, Transformation and the Role of the Subject

Critical Reflections on François Jullien’s Book The Silent Transformations

Ľubomír Dunaj

Page range: 245-260

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Abstract

In order to understand today’s social and political situation in East-Central Europe, one should particularly examine the consequences of post-socialist transformation. The negative and often very painful effects of the social changes that affected Central and Eastern Europe over the past three decades have not been overcome until today. This makes it all the more important to be better prepared philosophically for future social changes. François Jullien offers a number of solutions. In the first part of my paper, taking Jullien’s book The Silent Transformations as a point of departure, I show that many of the problems that still exist in East-Central Europe largely result from placing too much emphasis on the event of the revolution and too little on the transformation experienced by the region’s populations. In the second and third parts, I indicate, pace Jullien, a way towards a moderate, “sober”, but nevertheless creative and productive understanding of the active agent by appealing to the works of Hans-Herbert Kögler and Fabian Heubel.

Book Review

June 19, 2023

Selbstbesinnung und Gegenläufigkeit. Zu Fabian Heubel: Was ist chinesische Philosophie? Kritische Perspektiven

Christoph Menke

Page range: 261-268

Open Access June 19, 2023

Zu Fabian Heubel, Was ist chinesische Philosophie? Kritische Perspektiven, Hamburg: Meiner, 2021

Heiner Roetz

Page range: 269-280

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June 19, 2023

Issue 1

No ranking information is available for this journal.

Editorial

Editors-in-Chief:

Hans Feger, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
Xie Dikun, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China
Wang Ge, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, China

(Deutsch)

Online ISSN: 2196-5897
Print ISSN: 2196-5889
Type: Yearbook
Languages: English, German
Publisher: De Gruyter
First published: August 20, 2016
Publication Frequency: 1 Issue per Year
Audience: Academics, Institutes, Libraries

Yearbook for Eastern and Western Philosophy

Frontmatter

Editorial Preface

Preface

The Other Between. Critical Reflections on François Jullien’s Approach to “Chinese Thought”

Philosophy Between Interpenetration and Juxtaposition

Abstract

The Touch of Kongzi’s Irony and Reflections on Methodology

Abstract

Getting to Know Knowing-as as Knowing

Abstract

Nothingness and Neutrality

Abstract

Reflections on the Methodology of a Cross-Cultural Dialogue Between China and the ‘West’

Comparative Cultural Hermeneutics as Method

Transcultural Sublation of Concepts and Objects through the Lens of Adorno and Gongsun Long

Abstract

Reading the Zhongyong 中庸 in Times of Cultural Upheaval

Abstract

Diverging into the Untranslatable. George Steiner, Paul Ricœur and François Jullien

Abstract

The Need for Global Philosophy

Global Post-Comparative Philosophy as Just Philosophy

Global Philosophy: Starting from Philosophical Theorizing

Who is Afraid of François Jullien? Some Thoughts on the Political and Philosophical Implications of an “Untimely” Thinking

Abstract

Revolution, Transformation and the Role of the Subject

Critical Reflections on François Jullien’s Book The Silent Transformations

Abstract

Selbstbesinnung und Gegenläufigkeit. Zu Fabian Heubel: Was ist chinesische Philosophie? Kritische Perspektiven

Zu Fabian Heubel, Was ist chinesische Philosophie? Kritische Perspektiven, Hamburg: Meiner, 2021

Bio-Bibliography

Name Index