Studying Chinese, Indian, Africana… philosophy as part of the regular curriculum

Eric Schwitzgebel wrote an important article on the L.A. Times stating that we should stop refraining from studying Chinese Philosophy. He has a powerful way to show how there is circularity behind the arguments against it:

Because the dominant academic culture in the U.S. traces back to Europe, the ancient Chinese philosophers were not taught to, and thus not read by, the succeeding generations. Ignorance thus apparently justifies ignorance: Because we don’t know their work, they have little impact on our philosophy. Because they have little impact on our philosophy, we believe we are justified in remaining ignorant about their work.

Marcus Arvan also took up the issue again here and made a more inclusive argument in favour of all sorts of non-standard non-Western philosophies.

What do you think? Which arguments are more effective?

Comments and discussions are welcome. Be sure you are making a point and contributing to the discussion.

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