For millennia, the world has been thinking about the most baffling of questions: why are we here, where have we been, where are we going, or are we just – here. Is this it? And what does it mean? There are, of course, a multitude of answers, and of practices, but How the World Thinks is a book about philosophy, and not about the minutiae of religions (although they cannot help but be often intertwined). Fascinating and unexpected details and contrasts turn up to choreograph the narrative: Chinese ancestor worship, for example, could involve real banquets for the departed with real food, the living in attendance, while of course Christians have the symbolism of the Eucharist, although he refrains from pointing out that secular cynics might think of that as something much darker.

How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy

How he prioritises bodies of thought which are written down and more rigorously debated and argued (hence Asia being prioritised over Africa and Oceania). Baggini is annoyed with Western-philosophy dumping the prefix altogether and presuming that the tradition's particular ways of conceiving the world, namely, the spirit of reaching out for a single, final truth through the methods of reductionism, empiricism and rationality, are the only ones that are to be taken seriously. Thus, he sets out to seek what others have on offer, and his journey is primarily focused upon India, China, Japan and the Islamic World (considered in terms of religion rather than region) with cursory glances at Africa and tribal cultures. Thus it is not so much as 'How the World Thinks' as 'How South/East Asia and Muslims Think'. So while this is undoubtedly a book about the biggest questions, there is no attempt on the part of the author to answer them – rather, simply to describe attitudes that in some instances are almost impossible to define. Can Westerners understand the Japanese fascination with emptiness, the spaces in between? Can Asians understand how literal parts of the European traditions are? Is there any agreement, for example, about time? Many philosophies see it as cyclic, while Australian aboriginals see past, present and future all as one. Can countries which believe in the philosophical determination behind thinking that society as a whole should provide for all its members understand the passion of can-do Americans to exalt the power of the individual and individual autonomy? Outside the hall, what did other countries make of a British leader who had once written sceptically about the climate emergency? Was his new evangelism for real, many wondered, or merely an act by someone adept at persuading people he holds certain beliefs?Aaaages ago, I read a book called Sophie's World, which I loved. It was essentially using a simple story to introduce the reader to various philosophers and their core ideas. I must've been about 20 at the time...

How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy - AbeBooks How the World Thinks: A Global History of Philosophy - AbeBooks

The assumption that autonomous reason will inevitably lead to progress also fosters a dangerous complacency among academics, who often baulk if asked to say how their work benefits wider society. The logic of secular reason would answer that if learning has no practical effect, it doesn’t matter because inquiry is good for its own sake. If it does have an effect, it is bound to be good because learning leads to progress. But it surely makes sense to question whether the right people are studying the right things in the right way, and we cannot answer this unless we have some idea of what “right” is. Is it right, for example, if an academic community breeds a kind of consensus that stifles dissenting voices? Excessive belief in the autonomy of secular reason stops us asking these questions, raising the spectre of academic ‘censorship’. Ever since I began teaching philosophy in the 1990's I've tried to expand the canon and to include non-Western elements in my teaching. These movements have gained momentum more broadly in the academy in recent years, and so I've been trying to expand my understanding so I can be a better philosopher and a better teacher. I hadn't yet seen a good introductory text one might use for global philosophy. Offering deep insights into how different regions operate, and their commonalities as well as their differences, Baggini shows that gaining greater knowledge of how others think is the first step to a better understanding of ourselves"

Podcast

Julian Baggini sets out to expand our horizons in How the World Thinks, exploring the philosophies of Japan, India, China and the Muslim world, as well as the lesser-known oral traditions of Africa and Australia’s first peoples. Interviewing thinkers from around the globe, Baggini asks questions such as: why is the West is more individualistic than the East? What makes secularism a less powerful force in the Islamic world than in Europe? And how has China resisted pressures for greater political freedom? At 20 we don’t care what the world thinks of us; at 30 we wonder what it thinks of us; at 40 we discover it doesn’t think of us at all. PDF / EPUB File Name: How_the_World_Thinks_-_Julian_Baggini.pdf, How_the_World_Thinks_-_Julian_Baggini.epub