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The Dimensions of Diversity: Teaching Non-Western Works in Introductory Philosophy Courses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2018

MEGAN MITCHELL Open the ORCID record for MEGAN MITCHELL [Opens in a new window]
MEGAN MITCHELL*
Affiliation:
Stonehill College
*
*<mmitchell@stonehill.edu>
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Abstract

The recent push to diversify philosophy courses is often motivated by a desire to include underrepresented students. Although incorporating non-Western philosophy would achieve greater diversity, there seems to be no special reason to select non-Western traditions for this purpose. I argue this appearance is deceiving. Data suggests an absence of non-Western content in the curriculum causes alienation for some of our students of colour. Given the minimal burden it would impose on philosophy instructors to address this suffering, we have good reason to include some non-Western content in our introductory courses, where it is likely to have the greatest impact.

L’effort récent pour diversifier les cours de philosophie est souvent motivé par le désir d’inclure les étudiants sous-représentés. Bien que l’incorporation de la philosophie non-occidentale permettrait d’atteindre une plus grande diversité, il ne semble y avoir aucune raison particulière de choisir des traditions non-occidentales à cette fin. Je soutiens que cette apparence est trompeuse. Les données suggèrent qu’une absence de contenu non-occidental dans le programme d’études provoque l’aliénation de certains de nos étudiants de couleur. Étant donné le fardeau minimal que cela imposerait aux instructeurs de philosophie de faire face à cette souffrance, nous avons de bonnes raisons d’inclure du contenu non-occidental dans nos cours d’introduction, où il est susceptible d’avoir le plus grand impact.

Keywords

non-Western philosophyteachingalienationstudents of colourdiversity
Type
Special Issue: Philosophy and its Borders
Information
Dialogue: Canadian Philosophical Review / Revue canadienne de philosophie , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , June 2018 , pp. 383 - 408
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Philosophical Association 2018 

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