A Holistic Account of Adequacy Conditions  for How to Look at Contraries: How Cross-Tradition Engagement in  Philosophy Is Possible

Bo Mou

doi:10.4312/as.2022.10.3.157-179

Authors

MOU Bo San José State University, Department of Philosophy, United States

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2022.10.3.157-179

Keywords:

comparative philosophy, cross-tradition engagement in philosophy, holistic account, methodological guiding principles (adequate and inadequate ones), methodological perspectives (eligible and ineligible ones)

Abstract

The aim of this essay is to give a meta-philosophical and meta-methodological characterization of some central characteristic features comparative philosophy as a general way of doing philosophy through cross-tradition engagement toward world philosophy. This is elucidated by presenting a holistic account of the conditions for maintaining adequate methodological guiding principles for appropriately and effectively considering different approaches to philosophy. This essay is meta-methodological in character: given that comparative philosophy sets out to explore how to adequately look at contraries (especially those from different philosophical traditions, but not limited to them, methodologically speaking), and given the self-reflective philosophical nature of comparative philosophy, exploring adequacy conditions for how to look at contraries is meta-methodological in character but also a significant part of comparative philosophy per se. This meta-methodological exploration in comparative philosophy is neither exhaustive nor exclusive: it is not exhaustive because comparative philosophy as a whole has other substantial contents; it is not exclusive because this suggested account itself is open-ended and can include further adequate conditions that would be complementary to the current set from the holistic vantage point, which is exactly one ending point of this essay.

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