15 January 2025 / Research

Publications on Global Post-Comparative Philosophy

Lerato Posholi and Ralph Weber have contributed articles to the special feature of Philosophy East and West on “The Prospects, Problems, and Urgency of Global Intercultural Philosophy Now”. Their contributions link debates in philosophy in Africa with methodological issue in global post-comparative philosophy and explore the role of positionality and perspectivism in post-comparative respectively.

Lerato Posholi: "On the Idea of Post-Comparative Philosophy"

In this article, I briefly discuss contemporary debates about methodological issues in philosophy in Africa to raise concerns about the uptake of diverse philosophical resources at the heart of the global post-comparative method and suggest that the feasibility of the post-comparative method depends on the availability of robust and rich philosophical resources furnished by different traditions and their systematic uptake.

Posholi, Lerato. “On the Idea of Post-Comparative Philosophy.” Philosophy East and West 75, no. 1 (2025): 43–55.

Ralph Weber: "Global Philosophy, Positionality, and Non-Relativist Perspectivism"

A new vocabulary has prominently entered the discourse of comparative philosophy. Such philosophy, and philosophy as such, is often supposed to be “global,” “cosmopolitan,” “fusion,” or “post-comparative.” The intention is to have a more global scope in what counts as philosophy and to be more inclusive of standpoints. A key term is “positionality.” In this article, I first translate a tension between globality and positionality into the problem of the possibility of a non-relativist perspectivism. Based on Borges’s Funes el memorioso and The Parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant, I explore hard-to-reconcile variants of perspectivism, particularly as to whether perspectives add up epistemically. I then turn to the example of sovereignty, questioning what the addition or juxtaposition of perspectives means for the practice of global post-comparative philosophy. In conclusion, I revisit my equating the issue of positionality with perspectivism and inquire into the possibility of meaningful fusion.

Weber, Ralph. “Global Philosophy, Positionality, and Non-Relativist Perspectivism.” Philosophy East and West 75, no. 1 (2025): 6–22.