Abstract:

Many of us find it a worthwhile idea—in principle—to extend the teaching of Early Modern philosophy to undergraduates beyond the traditional, canonical ‘Big Seven’ thinkers operative in Europe between 1600 and 1800. And we teacher other sorts of classes besides our Modern surveys, too: things like intros, classes on ethics and political philosophy, and topical classes of all sorts. And in teaching those, we often wish we could bring to bear other authors and traditions to expand, so to speak, the colors on our palette.

But many of us also find ourselves stymied in the teaching of figures outside of the traditional ‘canon’ and even more so by figures outside the potted trajectories of Western philosophical history. We find ourselves asking: “What can be done? What can I do with my limited time, energy, and budget to get myself into a position where I could teach Zhuangzi? (Or Seneca, or Nagarjuna, or the Upanishads, or Wäldä Heywat, or Dōgen?)”

The thesis of this talk is that these questions—while understandable, really—are based on a fundamental misapprehension. As a historian of philosophy, you are already equipped to teach all these thinkers and more besides (to undergraduates, at least). Or so I will argue.

“But what of the context?” you will say, raising the first of many objections. “I know nothing of the context! And what of the linguistic difficulties? And where do I even find these texts? And how do I decide which portions of them to assign? How do I handle prepping new material on a day to day basis? How will I cope with my extreme and debilitating imposter syndrome?!”

This talk posits that the answers to those questions, too, are far simpler than you might think. You do it, basically, by doing it, and I’ll explain how, focusing equally on the justification, the preparation, and the practicalities.