Within the Four Seas: Introduction to Comparative Philosophy by Ulrich Libbrecht

by Ulrich Libbrecht

Our world has evolved in such a way that we can no longer reduce it to just a market - it has also become an agora, where philosophers exchange world-views in order to understand one another. The author feels that Europe has lost its position at the center of the world and should stop pretending it holds the one true religion, philosophy, economy and science. Instead, it should turn its attention to fulfilling the dream of Erasmus reflected in his "I wish to be a citizen of the world." First and foremost, the author argues, the citizens of Europe need to learn to play fair when comparing different cultures and not rely on exlusively western criteria. This book explains how a comparative model, based on the paradigm-free axes of energy and information, accommodates the current world-views of Taoism, Buddhism and Rationalism - representing Chinese, Indian and Western heritages respectively - and shows how science and religion interrelate within such a global framework.

Hardcover

First published August 30, 2007

About the author

Prof. dr. Ulrich Libbrecht is an authority in the field of Eastern and Comparative philosophy. He studied sinology in Gent, graduated cum laude in 1972 at the R.U. Leiden and that same year became professor in sinology, Chinese philosophy and buddhology at the University of Leuven. He also founded the School for Comparative Philosophy in Antwerp (Belgium) and School Philosophy East-West in Utrecht (Netherlands).