European and American analytic philosophers argue that the values and aspirations of the analytic tradition, such as clarity and rigor, are meant to be universal. Some writers even say that analytic philosophy has already taken roots in Asian and African academic societies. But when we study the history of analytic philosophy, we almost never hear about any non-western thinker who may have been involved in the development of the tradition. In fact, in most philosophy books or online sources, the term “analytic philosopher” refers almost exclusively to British, American, and other European thinkers. There is no doubt that analytic philosophy is largely a western invention. But I find its difficult to sustain that up until now, there is not a single non-western philosopher who has produced any serious work enough to qualify him or her as an analytic philosopher. The under-represention of non-western thinkers in the analytic tradition is shocking, considering that western philosophy is taught in almost all universities across the globe.
This brings me to my questions. Do you know any non-western thinker regarded as an analytic philosophy?
I know this lady who has PhD’s in chemistry and in philosophy and who is a Buddhist, and literally everything she reads is some eastern/analytic mix. I’ll track down some authors if you want.
Is it not true that in general Western thinking focuses upon a logical and reasoned approach whilst Eastern thinking focuses upon a spiritual
and emotional one? Or is this simply a stereotypical view of the contrast between two different ways of seeing the world? But in any case is
the correct way not to favour one over the other? But to find a perfect balance or harmony between them like in ying and yang for example
There are different climates, different weathers, different cultures, different languages, different thoughts. So why should there not be differences in thinking systems, philosophies? There are such differences.
The “eastern/analytic mix” or, if it exists, a “southern/analytic mix” is always an “offset” (“offshoot”, “cutting”, “layer”, “scion”) of the western - exactly northwestern (because it is both western and northern) - analytic tradition.