Abstract

Comparative philosophy is an important and growing field. Increasingly, philosophy instructors are looking to offer philosophy courses that span more than just one regional culture. Developing a syllabus for a course in comparative philosophy for the first time can be a daunting challenge. Among the many questions one has to ask is how much class time should be spent characterizing the cultural differences between the two philosophical traditions before examining the philosophical traditions themselves and what sort of materials should be covered from each tradition. Perhaps surprisingly, my answer to the first question is little to none. Characterizing cultures brings with it a danger of essentializing that should be avoided in the classroom. As to the sorts of materials to be covered, it is best to look at whole works from individual philosophers, rather than try to compare whole traditions.