Opening Chinese Philosophy

Much of academic philosophy is narrow. There are several ways to understand what narrow means in this context. One aspect is the focus of academic publications and presentations, which is often exceedingly limited, in terms of both the scope of scholarship included in the discussion as well the ideas considered. Relatedly, the primary orientation in academic philosophy surrounds dissecting concepts and considering ideas, relationships, and the world according to smaller and smaller parts. In this paper we would like to draw attention to another type of philosophizing, one which is also practiced but is less welcomed in some academic settings. We call it “open philosophy.” Open philosophy invites new ways of thinking about the world, and generally welcomes a wider set of experiences within its scope. Rather than striving for atomization and hyper-specialization, open philosophizing appreciates multi-disciplinary versatility and introduces approaches to problems for people to consider for themselves in contemporary society. In particular we will explore how, despite the increasing disciplinization in the field, research on Chinese Philosophy that is more open does, and could further contribute to comparative and post-comparative perspectives.