Editing Eastern philosophy (section)

==Criticism==
According to the British philosopher Victoria S. Harrison, the category of "Eastern philosophy", and similarly "Asian philosophy" and "Oriental philosophy" is a product of 19th-century Western scholarship and did not exist in East Asia or India. This is because in Asia there is no single unified philosophical tradition with a single root, but various autonomous traditions that have come into contact with each other over time.<ref>Harrison, Victoria S; "Eastern Philosophy: The Basics, Introduction</ref>

Some [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] thinkers claim that philosophy as such is only characteristic of Western cultures. The German philosopher [[Martin Heidegger]] is reported to have said that only Greek and German languages are suitable for philosophizing.<ref name="Spiegel">{{cite news |first1=Rudolf |last1=Augstein |first2=Georg |last2=Wolff |first3=Martin |last3=Heidegger |title=''Nur noch ein Gott kann uns retten'' |url=http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-41238349.html |newspaper=[[Der Spiegel]] |date=31 May 1976 |pages=193–219 |access-date=14 June 2013 |archive-date=6 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130206225835/http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-41238349.html |url-status=live }} [http://www.ditext.com/heidegger/interview.html English translation] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016094800/http://www.ditext.com/heidegger/interview.html |date=16 October 2013 }} by [[William J. Richardson]] in {{cite book |title=Heidegger: the Man and the Thinker |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qIrWZajVZuwC |editor1-link=Thomas Havens |editor-first=Thomas |editor-last=Sheehan |orig-year=1981 |year=2010 |version=reprint |publisher=[[Transaction Publishers]] |location=[[Piscataway, New Jersey]] |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=qIrWZajVZuwC&dq=%22Only+a+God+Can+Save+Us%22%22:+The+Spiegel+Interview+(1966)+Martin+Heidegger%22&pg=PA45 45–67] |isbn=978-1-4128-1537-6 }}[https://books.google.com/books?id=XVnePQAACAAJ 1st edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150320072759/http://books.google.com/books?id=XVnePQAACAAJ |date=20 March 2015 }}</ref> It is still commonplace in Western universities to teach only Western philosophy and to ignore Asian philosophy altogether, or consider only newer Western-influenced Asian thought proper "philosophy". Carine Defoort, herself a specialist in Chinese thought, has offered support for such a "family" view of philosophy,<ref>Defoort, Carine. (2001). "Is There Such a Thing as Chinese Philosophy? Arguments of an Implicit Debate",
''Philosophy East and West''
51 (3) 393–413.</ref> while [[Rein Raud]] has presented an argument<ref>[[Rein Raud|Raud, Rein]]. (2006) "Philosophies versus Philosophy: In Defense of a Flexible Definition". ''Philosophy East & West'' 56 (4) 618–625. [https://www.academia.edu/217793/Philosophies_vs_Philosophy_In_Defense_of_A_Flexible_Definition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170723052150/http://www.academia.edu/217793/Philosophies_vs_Philosophy_In_Defense_of_A_Flexible_Definition|date=23 July 2017}}</ref> against it and offered a more flexible [[definition of philosophy]] that would include both Western and Asian thought on equal terms. In response, Ouyang Min argues that philosophy proper is a Western cultural practice and essentially different from ''zhexue'', which is what the Chinese have,<ref>Ouyang Min. (2012). "There is No Need for ''Zhongguo Zhexue'' to be Philosophy" Asian Philosophy 22 (3) 199–223.</ref> even though ''zhexue'' (originally ''tetsugaku'') is actually a neologism coined in 1873 by [[Nishi Amane]] for describing Western philosophy as opposed to traditional Asian thought.<ref>Havens, Thomas R.H. (1970).''Nishi Amane and Modern Japanese Thought'' Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 50.</ref>