Core Topics in Intercultural Philosophy

Workshop-series of the Vienna Society for Intercultural Philosophy

Summer semester 2025

Introduction to intercultural philosophy and „Young WiGiP“

Workshop Series of the Vienna Society for Intercultural Philosophy
Summer Semester 2025

Introduction to Intercultural Philosophy and “Young WiGiP”

Providing an introduction to intercultural philosophy inevitably means facing the challenge of an overwhelming diversity of philosophical traditions. How can we talk about core topics in intercultural philosophy when the very concept requires an extensive array of knowledge and expertise from multiple traditions to enable the inter in intercultural philosophy? While this openness creates a broad and inclusive space for philosophical inquiry, it can also make the field difficult for students to approach.

This is why the series is called Core Topics in Intercultural Philosophy rather than The Core Topics of Intercultural Philosophy: the aim is not to define intercultural philosophy in a final or exhaustive way. Instead, by focusing on selected core topics, we hope to create entry points that make intercultural philosophy more accessible to students and all those interested.

The workshop series is designed to introduce students at the University of Vienna and other interested participants to a range of non-European philosophical traditions. Through guided readings, discussions and introductory lectures, participants will actively engage with key ideas in intercultural philosophy. Organized by the Young WiGiP initiative, this series is especially aimed at students with little or no prior knowledge of the traditions covered or of intercultural philosophy in general.

Each session will explore the dynamic interplay between a specific area of philosophy and a particular tradition. Hans Schelkshorn will introduce Latin American philosophy through the lens of discourse theory. Graham Parkes will examine the connections between environmental philosophy and Chinese philosophy. Finally, Fabian Völker will offer an introduction to Indian philosophy in relation to philosophy of religion.

Coordination: Pius Huber & Kassian Mitterer

DATES

08.04.2025, 18:30 (6:30 pm CET), Neues Institutsgebäude, Lecture-Hall 3B (Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Wien)

• Lecture in German
• Please register under: mediawigiporg
• The text will be provided through email after registration

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dr. Johann Schelkshorn (Universität Wien, Austria): Introduction to Latin-American Philosophy

The philosophy of Latin America cannot be reduced to a singular tradition of thought but rather is best understood as at least four heterogeneous movements. One such movement centres on the question of “philosophy” in Amerindian cultures. Since the sixteenth century there exists a history of European philosophy in South America. However, at the same time new indigenous traditions of thought have sprung up since colonial times. Among these “filosofia americana” is counted, which was founded in the nineteenth century. It persists since the twentieth century in the form of “Philosophy of Liberation” as well as in some post-/decolonial schools of thought.

The text “Our America” from José Martí will be discussed.

27.05.2025, 18:30 (6:30 pm CET), Neues Institutsgebäude, Lecture-Hall 3B (Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Wien)

• Lecture in German and English
• Please register under: mediawigiporg
• The text will be provided through email after registration

Graham Parkes (Universität Wien, Austria): How to Tackle the Eco-Crisis. An Intercultural-Philosophical Approach

Human activities — and consumerism especially — are wrecking not only the climate but also the biosphere. Even if we could magically resolve the climate crisis tomorrow, the capitalist imperative of constant economic growth — which involves ongoing depletion of the soil and pollution of the earth and air, deforestation and overfishing, habitat destruction and extinction of species and biodiversity — threatens to render much of the planet uninhabitable. And as long as we continue with ‘business as usual’, the increasing pressure on the Earth System will eventually bring about the end of human civilisation as we know it. But if we in the richer nations can radically — and rapidly — change our behaviour to prevent the worst from happening, we may well find more fulfilling ways of living.

From a philosophical perspective, the roots of our current predicament involve a widespread misunderstanding of who we are as humans on planet Earth — as fundamentally free and independent individuals, beings superior to and properly dominant over all others. Insofar as this understanding is relatively recent and quite parochial (deriving from modern northern Europe), an intercultural-philosophical approach offers different and more enlightening ways of understanding ourselves — as, for example, radically interdependent participants in natural processes. This kind of self-understanding has in fact been shared by most human cultures since their beginnings, at least until modernity conquered the world.*

 The first step in averting the worst is presumably to inform people who don’t realise how serious our eco-predicament is — a challenging task when the greatest contributor to the problem (the U.S.) is building a vast disinformation system expressly to cover it up. And given that a change in our self-understanding from independent individuals to interrelated participants is unlikely to happen overnight, the second (discussion) part of the workshop will address the question: how can intercultural philosophy help mobilise the kind of global social movement needed to effect the personal and political changes that are necessary if we’re to minimise the misery and enjoy saner ways of living? 

*For a comprehensive discussion, see chapters 7 and 8 of my book, How to Think about the Climate Crisis (click ‘PDF’ at grahamparkes.net), or ‘Can Humanity Survive the Anthropocene?’ (under ‘Essays’ at grahamparkes.net).

The text “Can Humanity Survive the Anthropocene?” from Graham Parkes will be discussed.

03.06.2025, 18:30 (6:30 pm CET), Neues Institutsgebäude, Lecture-Hall 3B (Universitätsstraße 7, 1010 Wien)

• Lecture in German
• Please register under: mediawigiporg
• The text will be provided through email after registration

Univ.-Assistent post doc Dr. Fabian Völker (Universität Wien, Austria): Indian Philosophy - Śaṅkaras teaching of Advaita-Vedānta:Movie Discussion

The memory of the "venerable master Śaṅkara" (650–800 AD) is kept alive in India's cultural consciousness through a steadily growing number of comics, plays, television series, and films, as well as, most recently, a nearly 33-meter-high statue that was inaugurated on September 21, 2023, in Omkareshwar, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Who was this man, and what is the core of his radical philosophy of "non-duality" (a-dvaita), which has left such a lasting impression on India's self-understanding for over 1,000 years and continues to shape and influence Indian thought to this day? After a general introduction to the fundamentals of Hinduism and Indian philosophy, we will explore the life and teachings of Śaṅkara through selected excerpts from the film Ādi Śaṅkarācārya (1983). 

Selected excerpts from the film Ādi Śaṅkarācārya (1983) by Ganapathi Venkataramana Iyer (1917–2003) will be shown and discussed.