A Rose by Other Names: The Love of Wisdom beyond the West

SOAS World Philosophies Lecture 31

Given the growing interest in global philosophy today, audiences are beginning to come away with a clearer picture of what “philosophy” means in various civilisations and to large sectors of humanity beyond the Anglo-American and European worlds. 

This lecture will argue that the love of wisdom has indeed never been restricted to one geographic region, and that it has been conceived of along lines that are similar to and different from that of the West. The focus will be on the depth, diversity, and creativity of non-Western philosophical traditions through an introduction of a recently published sourcebook in global philosophy that features the major ideas, themes, and arguments of Africana, Buddhist, Confucian, Hindu, Islamic, Jain, Jewish, Latin American, Mesoamerican, Native American, and Taoist philosophy through translations of nearly one hundred philosophical texts from sixteen different languages.

Speaker 

Mohammed Rustom is Professor of Islamic Thought and Global Philosophy at Carleton University and Executive Director of the Tokat Institute for Advanced Islamic Studies. An internationally recognized scholar and award-winning author whose writings have been translated into ten languages, Professor Rustom’s more recent works include Inrushes of the Heart (SUNY Press, 2023) and A Sourcebook in Global Philosophy (Equinox, 2025). 

Contact

Email: cgcp@soas.ac.uk

Image credit: Tiffany Chan via Unsplash