In Search of Allies: Global Philosophy as Criticism

Heiner Roetz

doi:10.4312/as.2026.14.1.65-86

Authors

Heiner ROETZ Ruhr University Bochum, Germany

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/as.2026.14.1.65-86

Keywords:

Global philosophy, philosophy as criticism, interculturality, Chinese philosophy, Jaspers

Abstract

The world is more dominated than ever by a destructive logic of self-assertion (Selbstbehauptung) at the expense of global solidarity. Can Chinese philosophy offer an alternative? If philosophy is needed today, then it is a philosophy which is able to break through that logic, instead of itself falling victim to or even supporting it. However, the latter is the case if a philosophy understands itself as an expression of a specific cultural identity as distinct from others, as for example in today’s China. Even what is currently being discussed under the term “global philosophy” is influenced by that logic, insofar as it presents itself as a panopticon of juxtaposed worldviews that rest in themselves and not as something that points beyond them. However, only by critiquing “its own” (das Eigene), and not by affirming it, can philosophy be truly global and develop alternatives to self-assertion. This corresponds to its origins, be it in Greece or China, as globality is originally inherent in philosophy, inasmuch as it emerges as a criticism of the given culture due to a crisis of its tradition that made human existence problematic. It is just that it has repeatedly fallen behind. Recalling philosophy’s origin might help to revive its culture-critical, culture-transcending core and enable it to join forces with its likes against the powers that are plunging the world into disaster.

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