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?