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The article focuses on exploring the relationship between the boundaries of the world, the limits of language, and the means of expression beyond those limits. It compares the philosophies of Wang Bi and Ludwig Wittgenstein, with a primary emphasis on Wang Bi's commentaries on Laozi, to understand the nature of language's limitations and how it deals with issues beyond its reach.

What if doing philosophy across cultures is always implicitly a matter of metaphilosophy – of articulating more clearly the nature of philosophy itself? What if it forces us to 'stand back' hermeneutically and map out a 'view from above' of the underlying fabric of ideas – in their constitutive concepts, their relations to other ways of thinking, and their potential to be configured in alternative fascinating and fruitful ways? This article incorporates existing approaches to comparative philosophy within a single scheme of complementary philosophical activities, and a single overarching metaphilosophical project. These approaches are (1) 'archival' (exploring parallel but separate philosophical traditions), (2) 'equivalentist' (comparing traditions in terms of analogies and contrasts), and (3) 'problem-solving' (using multiple traditions to provide philosophical solutions). I situate these within (4) the overarching hermeneutic project of 'mapping' concepts and their possibilities. This entails the theory that philosophies drawing on multiple perspectives are always implicitly engaged in mapping out the underlying eidetic structure upon which philosophy does its work, and charting the conceptual possibilities surrounding any idea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite striking similarities, the connection between Madhyamaka Buddhism and Richard Rorty's philosophy has been almost entirely ignored. This article aims to correct this oversight by suggesting that much could be gained by exploring their connection. It does so, first, by establishing the similarities and differences between Rorty and Madhyamaka, and second, by demonstrating that Madhyamaka vocabulary can solve significant problems in Rorty's thought. In particular, the article will argue that Madhyamaka can alleviate the tension between irony and liberalism, by showing that internalisation of anti-essentialism induces liberal sentiments. This allows us to conceive of irony and solidarity as existing in harmony and mutual dependence, without attempting to reconcile them theoretically. In doing so, this article provides the basis for a cross-cultural conception of anti-essentialist ethics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article opens with a discussion of recent theoretical and methodological innovations in the field of comparative philosophy. In this regard, I propose and explain a new possible method of contrasting particular aspects of divergent philosophical texts or discourses and denote it as a 'philosophy of sublation'. Then, the paper provides a concrete example for such a post-comparative method of reasoning, I will try to apply a 'sublation philosophy' approach for a reinterpretation of certain aspects of the complex philosophical intersections between modern Japanese and Chinese philosophies through the lens of a contrastive analysis of Nishida Kitarō's and Mou Zongsan's dialectical thought. In this way, I hope to shed some new light upon some general questions regarding different models of dialectics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops a framework for addressing racial ontologies in transnational perspective. In contrast to simple contextualist accounts, it is argued that a globally engaged metaphysics of race needs to address transnational continuities of racial ontologies. In contrast to unificationist accounts that aim for one globally unified ontology, it is argued that questions about the nature and reality of race do not always have the same answers across national contexts. In order address racial ontologies in global perspective, the article develops a framework that accounts for both continuities and discontinuities by looking beyond the referents of narrowly defined core concepts. By shifting the focus from narrow concepts to richer conceptions of race, racial ontologies become comparable through globally related but nonetheless distinct mappings between conceptions and property relations. The article concludes by showing how this framework can generate novel insights in case studies from Asia, Europe, and Latin America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zhi is an important Chinese notion that conveys among other things human capacity to set aims, to determine a course of action, or to persist in a resolve. The term naturally turns up in Chinese contributions to Western Free Will debate. In this paper, I explain zhi by working out a comparison that goes from East to West. I do a three-fold textual analysis of zhi focusing on the Mencius. I outline different usages found in the text, examine a nuanced, dominant meaning suggested in 2A.2, and discuss notional features based on language patterns. My analysis yields a more homegrown understanding of zhi which I shall compare with Western expressions of moral agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author offers a response to a commentary on his study "Rethinking Comparative Philosophical Methodology," which examined the methodology in comparative philosophy. Topics covered include the usefulness of his analytical tool to comparative philosophy and intercultural philosophy, differences between a comparison and a syllogism and the reasons for his search for some commonality, that is, the tertium in his analysis.

A response to comments on a commentary by Rui Zhu on the study of comparative philosophy by Richard Rorty, as well as the discussion of comparative philosophy by Alasdair MacIntyre is presented. Topics covered include distinction between comparative philosophy as a form of intercultural studies and as a philosophy, the task of appropriation, the thesis on cultural incommensurability of MacIntyre and the true purpose of comparative philosophy.

The author offers comments on a commentary by Rui Zhu on the study of comparative philosophy by Richard Rorty, as well as the discussion of comparative philosophy by Alasdair MacIntyre. Topics covered include outlook on Zhu's claim of Rorty's dismissal of comparative philosophy with his proposal to make comparisons sans philosophy, outlook on MacIntyre's stance on incommensurability in philosophical thinking and comparative philosophy as an object-centered self-reflection.

A commentary on "Rethinking Comparative Philosophical Methodology," a study by Ralph Weber on methodology in comparative philosophy is presented. Topics covered include the role of Weber's work in highlighting the methodological predicament of comparative philosophy, Chinese-Western comparative philosophy and philosophy in China and how this predicament can be approached and resolved.

An essay which offered an alternative to approach of some scholars to logos and consequently to dao using interpretations of logos by philosopher Martin Heidegger is presented. Topics covered include the one-sided approahc taken by some scholars in comparing logos and dao; comparison of Daoists' intentions for the term dao with the views of Heidegger, and reinterpretations of classical notions as a resource to comparative philosophy.

the article discusses the significance of skepticism in defining the concept of world philosophy and possibility. It discusses the concept of comparative philosophy in terms of resolving the concerns and addressing the question of possibility emerging from skepticism. It also analyses the global philosophical culture through modern and postmodern approaches to thinking.

A commentary on the study of comparative philosophy by Richard Rorty, as well as the discussion of comparative philosophy by Alasdair MacIntyre is presented. Topics covered include Rorty's dismissal of comparative philosophy with his proposal to make comparisons sans philosophy, comparing incommensurable theories such as Confucian comparisons of Confucianism and Aristotelianism according to MacIntyre and the need for comparative philosophy to cultivate irony, especially an insider's irony.

An essay on philosopher Richard Rorty's thesis of the cultural specificity of philosophy is presented. It discusses Rorty's reasons for disregarding dialogue with non-Western philosophy, an alternative to Rorty's cultural specificity thesis, and Rorty's skepticism about the value of comparative philosophy.

Abstract: According to an orthodox account of meaning and translation, meaning is a property of expressions of a language, and translation is a matching of synonymous expressions across languages. This linguistic account of translation gives rise to well‐known skeptical conclusions about translation, objectivity, meaning, and truth, but it does not conform to our best translational practices. In contrast, I argue for a textual account of meaning based on the concept of a text‐type that does conform to our best translational practices. With their semantic function in view, text‐types are Archimedean points for their respective disciplines. The text‐type of philosophy is no exception. Culture‐transcendent conceptual analysis can proceed on firm footing without having to deny the reality of radical cultural and linguistic difference by treating components of text‐types as the concepts to be analyzed. Analyses of central philosophical concepts are provided as a means of adjudicating philosophical controversy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay advances the concept of transversality by drawing philosophical insights from Maurice Merleau-Ponty, Calvin O. Schrag, and the Martinicuan francophone Edouard Glissant. By so doing, it begins with a critique of the notion of universality in modern Western philosophy. It targets Hegel—the modernist incarnate—in particular, who had a dark view of the non-Western world. His overarching Eurocentric universality is founded on the fallacious premise that what is particular in the West is universalized or universalizable, whereas what is particular in the non-West remains particular forever. As Glissant puts it succinctly, however, thinking about “One” is not thinking about “All” or “Many.” Eurocentric universality is outmoded and thus has no place in the globalization of the multicultural world. It simply ignores the reality of interlacing of multiple life-worlds. The concept of transversality, which is symbolized in the Maitreyan Middle Way, is proposed to replace universality, which tends to be nothing but the philosophical expression of a particular socio-cultural life-world. It not only reduces ethnocentric ignorance but also fosters a hybridity that in fact dissolves the binary opposition between particularism and universalism. In short, transversality is conceived of as a new paradigm in philosophical conceptualization or world philosophy. What is traditionally called “comparative philosophy” is not just a neglected branch of philosophy, but it is poised to transform radically the very conception of philosophy itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physical cosmology places constraints on philosophical cosmologies, understood in Alfred North Whitehead's sense as comprehensive theories of nature and ultimate reality. These constraints are not strict because it is usually possible for a philosophical cosmology to work around an awkward implication from physical cosmology, though the price may be a decrease in plausibility. This paper identifies distinctive patterns in the ways three different classes of philosophical cosmology - supernatural cosmology, process cosmology, and ground-of-being cosmology - negotiate constraints from physical cosmology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides a discussion which seeks to determine if the simplicity of the nature and content of theories constitute as evidence of the truth of such. The discussion is based on R. Swinburne's thoughts on the topic. It is inferred that Swinburne expounds on empirical adequacy which may point out that one theory is more likely to be true than the other; the criteria, content, and competitiveness of theories are also considered, as implied by the author. Examples of competing theories are also provided in the article.

This article reflects on the place of philosophy within a globalized world and reconsiders its status as a phenomenon that is potentially linked to a local culture. A sketch of an approach the author believed to be appropriate for the development of philosophy in times of globalization is presented. Comparative philosophy is similar with ethnophilosophy in that it takes the ethno part of any philosophy seriously and is even ready to establish it as a starting point for comparisons.

Contrary to Orientalist interpretations, authoritarian political practices are inconsistent with the axial Asian philosophies, which implicitly call for a socially responsible critical press (communication outlets). This is certainly the case with Buddhist philosophy. Confucianism and Hinduism also do not endorse authoritarianism. First, this essay analyzes each of these philosophies to show their disapproval of actions that enhance state authority and central control against people's wellbeing. Second, it identifies the probable reasons for the discrepancy between the ethico-political orientations of the main Asian philosophies and the authoritarian press practice prevalent in much of Asia and elsewhere, namely, (a) the failure of the Westcentric modernisation paradigm to uplift the "sovereign nation-states" in the periphery of the modern world-system, which grew out of the erstwhile colonial empires; (b) the appeal of continuing with the colonial tradition of governing through coercive and autocratic institutions to suppress public criticism; and (c) the impact of Orientalism, which caused the rulers of the new "nation-states" to misconstrue or ignore the principles embodied in Asian philosophies. Thus, political-economic reality appears to have superseded the ethico-political orientations of Asian philosophies in engendering the putative Asian model of development. However, because concepts such as freedom, democracy, authoritarianism, and social responsibility evoke different connotations in the West and the East, Freedom House's ranking of countries based on Westcentric criteria is debatable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is not to show the influence of phenomenology in the works of Fernando Gonzalez, nor what he could have taken from it. Far from that its objective is to collect coincidences--even playing with the connotation of random situation carrying this word--that could exist between the thought basis of González and the foundations of the vision and the phenomenological method proposed by E. Husserl. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Discusses parallelism in Kant's and Aristotle's accounts of mechanical inexplicability. Critique on the identification of mechanical inexplicability with the non-machine-like character of organisms; Alternative account of Kant's first kind of mechanical inexplicability; Distinction between the two kinds of inexplicability; Description of the corresponding distinction in Aristotle; Relevance of the Kantian and Aristotelian accounts to current advances in biological thinking.

Discusses the condition of world philosophy in line with the integration on non-Western and Western philosophies. Relation of critical thinking and passionate vision to philosophy; Comparison between philosophy and religion; Revision on the concept of philosophy.

Discusses the existence of the discipline of comparative philosophy in the Soviet Union. Definition of comparative philosophy; Soviet philosophy's lack of one key condition that is conducive to the emergence of comparative philosophy in the West; Self-centrism; Marxist Asian philosophical studies.

The article discusses the establishment of the Center for Comparative Philosophy (CCP) at the San Jose State University in California. The center is engaged in research concerning comparative philosophy under the directorship of Bo Mou. CCP aims to promote and enhance the research and scholarship at the university in an effort to contribute to its international academic mission. Furthermore, the center sponsors various student activities which include lectures and workshops, as well as conferences.