Migrating Texts and Traditions

Preface

Philosophy is a part of culture, and there is little dispute that culture influences philosophy. Yet philosophical texts and traditions have been introduced into cultures and philosophical traditions very different from those of their origin and, in a world in which the recognition of diversity often competes with calls for unity, it is important to ask how such an introduction is possible . The claim of the ‘migration’ of texts or traditions from one culture to another is, of course, not a uniquely philosophical one; we have comparative literature, cross-cultural or comparative religions, and intercultural or global ethics, in which it seems that we are dealing with the same or a similar phenomenon. Engaging philosophies outside of one’s own, the project of an intercultural or comparative philosophy, and even communication among philosophical traditions, all seem to depend on the possibility of such a migration. The importance of understanding this phenomenon gave rise to the project on which this volume is based. I would like to record my thanks to a number of individuals who helped in the discussion and the initial articulation of this project. To Richard Feist, who served on the organizing committee of the conference from which this volume took its inspiration and who served as a session chair and commentator; to Irene Switankowsky, David Savard, and Iain McKenna, who also served as session chairs and commentators; to the participants and audience at York University, Canada, where several of these papers were initially presented; and to scholars in Seoul (Korea), Taipei (Taiwan), Cape Coast (Ghana), and New Delhi (India), where a number of the issues in this volume were also discussed. I am also indebted to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, whose financial support for the project, “Migrating Texts and Traditions in Philosophy / Textes et traditions philosophiques : Parcours migratoires”, made this volume possible. I am grateful, as well, to the Fr Edo Gatto Chair of Christian Studies, St Francis Xavier University, which provided funding to support initial copyediting of the text. Preface & x Sweet I would also like to thank Joanne Muzak for the attentive and careful copyediting , and Eric Nelson and Marie Clausén of the University of Ottawa Press, for their support in bringing this volume to fruition. William Sweet ...