Multicultural Ancient Philosophy

A number of contributors to the existing pedagogical research have explored ways in which it might be possible to make courses in philosophy – usually the history of early modern philosophy – more multicultural. One of the pedagogical reasons behind this is to make the subject matter more accessible to an increasingly diverse student population. For these authors, the history of philosophy as it is usually taught is a story exclusively about ‘dead white European males’.

A history of Greek and Roman philosophy might run the risk of appearing to be such a story, despite the ethnic diversity of the ancient Mediterranean world. One could simply draw attention to the Middle Eastern origins of many a Hellenistic philosopher – Diogenes of Babylon, for example – or that, for instance, Augustine was by birth an African. A more unusual departure might be to preface a course on early Greek philosophy with an account of Near Eastern and Egyptian thought. Indeed, Jay Lampert has taught a course devoted to ancient Egyptian and ancient Greek philosophy in equal measure, as well as a course devoted entirely to ancient Egyptian philosophy. At the other end of the chronological spectrum, one might do well to pay attention to transmission of ancient philosophy into the Islamic world. One way in which Arabic authors might be incorporated into an undergraduate course on ancient philosophy is by making use of the texts and commentaries by al-Farabi or Averroes when teaching Plato and Aristotle. Such material may also be relevant to a course on Neoplatonism, given the Neoplatonic flavour of much of Islamic philosophy. While both of these suggestions involve stretching the – albeit arbitrary – chronological boundaries laid out earlier, it may in some circumstances be worth doing so if it helps to engage students who might otherwise remain only marginally interested in the material at hand.

Link: Jay Lampert, 'Teaching Ancient Egyptian Philosophy'

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