1. Ram adhar Mall: Intercultural
Philosophy
Info van sites
The meeting of different cultures, philosophies and religions today calls for an
intensive and qualified discourse on the part of all concerned. Intercultural Philosophy
seeks to develop such a discourse through a new orientation of thought that will allow
for a discussion of all philosophical problems from an intercultural perspective. In this
important new work, Ram Adhar Mall approaches the study of philosophy from a
cross-cultural point of view allowing for fundamental similarities and illuminating
differences between cultures. In doing so, he develops a new concept of intercultural
philosophy and applies it to various philosophical disciplines.
https://them.polylog.org/1/fmr-en.htm
In his paper Mall argues for the recognition of plural traditions in philosophy, since these are
specifications of the one philosophia perennis. It is the task of intercultural philosophy to mediate
between these two ends, i.e. the specific philosophies as they are found in different cultures and the
universal philosophy which is not culturally bound itself. Methodically intercultural philosophy therefore
is based on comparative studies, and in particular on the comparison of cultures and their
philosophical traditions. But just as the one universal philosophy nowhere exists in a pure form, there
is an inner plurality within each of the specific culture-bound philosophies. The same questions and
translational problems that are raised interculturally also occur intracultural, although at another level
of differentiation.
Based on these considerations Mall claims for philosophy to become intercultural the need to change
mental attitude, to open its conceptual thinking, to emancipate philosophical traditions which up to
date have not been recognized as such, to rewrite the history of philosophy and to pursue unity
without uniformity.
Mall writes that “intercultural philosophy stands for a process of emancipation from all types
of centrisms, whether European or non-European,” and that it seeks to exhibit “a
philosophical attitude, a philosophical conviction that no one philosophy is the philosophy for
the whole of humankind.” 14 He continues: “It is the task of intercultural philosophy to
mediate between…two ends, i.e., the specific philosophies as they are found in different
cultures and the universal philosophy which is not culturally bound itself.” 15 This mention of
there being even a possibility of a universal philosophy is an interesting one. It suggests that
there are philosophical questions and methods of resolving those questions that are not
restricted to specific cultures, and that may cross, or even transcend, cultures. Mall also insists
that intercultural philosophy is not the same as comparative philosophy. Nevertheless, he
allows that “Methodically intercultural philosophy…is based on comparative studies, and in
particular on the comparison of cultures and their philosophical traditions.”16
PSA 1
1) What, do you think, is philosophy?
Philosophy is thinking about things. It is the study of knowledge and general questions.
2) What, according to Mall, is Intercultural Philosophy, and what does it make possible?
, Intercultural philosophy refers to a philosophical orientation or a protophilosophical stance, which allows and
encourages the spirit of philosophy to be realized in different cultural contexts. No single philosophy can be the
philosophy for all of humankind. Intercultural philosophy is, in other words, the name of a new orientation in
and of philosophy. It accompanies all the different, concrete philosophical traditions and prevents them from
taking on an absolute or monolithic position.
3) Name 2 points in Mall’s text you would agree with, and tell us why.
1: “Doing philosophy means reflecting not only on our experience in relation to ourselves but also on how we
relate to others and to the world at large. There is always a point of view.” P. 68. I think that in philosophy you
have to take into account other people and their ideas. Different people from for example different culture
often have different ideas. So just like Mall I think there is always a point of view.
2: “Today, every philosophy ought to cooperate with others and form part of a larger whole, thus making every
philosophy a cross-cultural phenomenon. We should accept and recognize more than one genuine Gestalt of
philosophy. We should not err in thinking that our own way of doing philosophy might be the only possible way
of doing philosophy at all.” Blz. 76. I think that people have different ways of doing philosophy. By working
together philosopher can broaden their knowledge and see things form a other perspective. So I agree with
Mall that philosophers should not be mistaken in thinking that their own way of philosophizing is perhaps the
only possible way of doing philosophy and that philosophers should work together.
Samenvatting
He would like to show how belonging to different cultures does not impede intercultural philosophizing and
instead favors it.
• Section II: what exactly intercultural philosophy stands for in
• Section III: I will sketch certain crucial features of what is in fact a hermeneutical situation.
• Section IV: I will develop my own theory of an interculturally-oriented »analogous hermeneutic«
• Section V: try to show in that it can furnish what is necessary to do comparative philosophy.
• Section VI short conclusion will follow in.
II: what exactly intercultural philosophy stands for
Intercultural philosophy, rightly understood, firstly, is not a particular, concrete system of philosophy.
Rather it refers to a philosophical orientation or a proto-philosophical stance, which allows and
encourages the spirit of philosophy to be realized in different cultural contexts. No single philosophy can
be the philosophy for all of human- kind. Intercultural philosophy is, in other words, the name of a new
orientation in and of philosophy. It accompanies all the different, concrete philosophical traditions and
prevents them from taking on an absolute or monolithic position.
Doing philosophy means reflecting not only on our experience in relation to ourselves but also on
how we relate to others and to the world at large. There is always a point of view. :
- Ten 1e: All ways of doing philosophy are committed only to the singular universal regulative idea
of philosophia perennis. An intercultural philosophical orientation pleads for unity without
uniformity. It is not a matter of unity in diversity but »unity in face of diversity. «
- Ten 2e: intercultural philosophy delineates its field of enquiry by concentrating on the questions
that have been asked in different traditions. This asymmetry between questions and answers
makes us wary and warns us not universalize one particular way of doing philosophy.
- Ten 3e: intercultural philosophical thinking rejects the idea of a total purity of a culture.
Intercultural philosophical thinking thus rejects any absolutist or exclusive view from any one
philosophical tradition – be it European or non-European – claiming to be in sole possession of
the one, singular philosophical Truth. The general term »philosophy« possesses both cultural and
cross-cultural aspects.
- Ten 4e: this approach calls for attention to be given to a »minimal universality« of philosophical
rationality across culturally sedimented differences. The deconstructivist aspect of intercultural
