Welcome to Wisdom NOTES: A short transcript summary capturing insights from conversations on In Search of Wisdom. This edition comes from my interview with Bryan Van Norden, the author of Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto.
Taking Back Philosophy
In this episode, my guest is Bryan Van Norden, the author of Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto. Prof. Van Norden is the James Monroe Taylor Chair in Philosophy at Vassar College and Chair Professor in Philosophy in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University (China). He has published numerous books on Chinese and comparative philosophy. You can learn more about his work at BryanVanNorden.com.
In the conversation, Bryan and I discuss:
The meaning behind the title Taking Back Philosophy
How we should define philosophy
The benefits of comparative philosophy
The role of rituals and much more
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What is Philosophy?
Wisdom Note #1: How should we define or think about philosophy today?
Van Norden: Philosophy is when we discuss issues that we agree are important, but we don't yet agree on the methodology for resolving them. If we agree more or less about the methodology for resolving them, it becomes a specialized discipline, like mathematics, physics, or biology. But when the issues are important to us but we don't agree on the methodology for resolving them, that kind of dialogue is philosophical. […]
Discerning Your Path
Wisdom Note #2: How does one discern their path in life?
Van Norden: I think it's similar to many things, there's a golden mean. And this concept of the mean between extremes appears in many wisdom traditions, including the Aristotelian tradition. It's also part of the Confucian tradition. […]
Who is Confucius?
Wisdom Note #3: Why is Confucius an important figure today?
Van Norden: Confucius was born like Plato into a society in crisis. For both Plato and Aristotle, the solution to the crisis that they saw their societies as being in was to cultivate virtue in individuals and then get those individuals with virtue into positions of government authority. Now the conceptions they had about how you cultivate that virtue and what a virtuous person looks like are very different between Confucius and Plato. […]
Thank you for listening; I hope you found something useful. If you’re interested in learning more, listen to the entire conversation wherever you get your podcasts and pick up Bryan’s book Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto wherever books are sold.
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Until next time, be wise and be well,
JW