A Contribution toward the Decolonization of Philosophy: Asserting the Coloniality of Power in the Study of Non-Western Philosophical Traditions. Issue 2 (November 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Soldatenko, Gabriel
• Is Part Of: Comparative and continental philosophy. Volume 7:Issue 2(2015)
• Page Start: 138
• Page End: 156
• Publication Date: 2015-11
• Subjects: coloniality -- Latin American philosophy -- Comparative philosophy -- Dussel -- modernity -- Quijano -- Nietzsche -- decolonization; Philosophy, Comparative -- Periodicals; Philosophy, European -- Periodicals; Art -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; Literature -- Philosophy -- Periodicals; 105
• DOI: 10.1179/1757063815Z.00000000059
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-0638

Abstract

Abstract : This article proposes that the study of non-Western philosophical traditions ought to include a critical awareness of the experience, impact, and legacy of colonialism. In this regard, Latin American philosophy offers us a key concept—the coloniality of power. It will be shown that coloniality enriches and complicates our understanding of both the history of Western and non-Western philosophies. More specifically, coloniality helps to clarify and answer the following questions: First, how was it that the discipline of philosophy came to be centrally understood as Western? And second, to what degree did the modern distinction between West and non-West affect our understanding and the formation of non-Western thought? Ultimately, the methodological upshot of coloniality for the study of non-Western philosophical traditions is that it focuses our attention on the epistemic violence that was part and parcel of colonialism and therefore it frames the study of non-Western philosophical thought within the practical project of decolonization.