Topics Philosophy

Question I have always been curious how the typical, bright Western philosopher views Eastern philosophers and sages. Quite a few sages and philosophers of the East seem to feel as if they have attained 'truth' or 'enlightenment'. I wonder sometimes what a Western philosopher is hoping to reach or attain in life through philosophy. Is it the same 'truth' or 'enlightenment' that the sages of the East strive for? Is there a common goal between the two different philosophies? It seems to me as if the stress of Western philosophy is on sound logic and reason and clarity of thought. Many times, this is not the stress of Eastern thought. It stresses intuition, metaphors, meditation, and faith (at least in Vedanta). So I guess what I'm really interested in is, does the Western philosopher believe that a 'sage' or great philosopher of the East has truly attained truth or enlightenment (even though the emphasis and stresses in 'philosophy' are very different [often times])? Or, rather is the eastern sage or philosopher under some sort of illusion when he claims that he is enlightened?

Accepted:
December 1, 2005

Comments

The West is a big place, with a lot of philosophers, some of whom use careful rigorous arguments; some of whom do not, but give voice to deep insights in other ways; some of whom have explicitly religious agendas; some of whom are anti-religious or secular.

The East is a big place, with a lot of philosophers, ome of whom use careful rigorous arguments; some of whom do not, but give voice to deep insights in other ways; some of whom have explicitly religious agendas; some of whom are anti-religious or secular.

I think that the intelligent philosopher, or reader of philosophy does not first ask "in which hemisphere was this text composed?" or even "in which philosophical tradition was this text composed?" (especially given how hard it is to individuate traditions, and how heterogeneous each turns out to be), any more than s/he asks, "on which day of the week was this published?" The intelligent philosopher, or reader of philosophy, opens his/her mind and library to good, useful, insightful thought and powerful argument or just plain deep insight, whatever its prevenence.

If one does that, one will find that the distinction between East and West doesn't amount to much.