Global Philosophy versus Colonial History of Philosophy

The Reconstruction of a non-Ethnocentric Philosophylogos as an Alternative to the “Western Culture Myth”

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7557/13.8389

Keywords:

Decolonization, Cultural myth, History of philosophy, Global philosophy, Eurocentrism

Abstract

This text shows how we have the opportunity to obtain a more balanced, scientific and non-ethnocentric presentation of the global history of philosophy. The text takes as its starting point how both the painter Raphael and other Renaissance thinkers give the Muslim-Arab European peer Ibn Rushd (Averroës) a central position in the history of philosophy, in contrast to how philosophy students today are introduced to philosophy and science as a “Greek invention”. As an alternative to today’s exclusionary Scandinavian representations of philosophy, reference is made to recent, international research where we have gained a wealth of new, accessible philosophical classics from Africa, Asia and America. In sum, an alternative to a “Western cultural myth” and a colonialist presentation of the history of philosophy is outlined: a decolonized logos based on a global philosophical perspective, starting from a context-based and comparative methodological approach.

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Published

2025-12-03

How to Cite

Herbjørnsrud, Dag. 2025. “Global Philosophy versus Colonial History of Philosophy: The Reconstruction of a non-Ethnocentric Philosophylogos as an Alternative to the ‘Western Culture Myth’”. Nordlit 53 (2). Tromsø, Norway:7-24. https://doi.org/10.7557/13.8389.