About the Center
Philosophizing in a Globalized World (GloPhi) is a Center for Advanced Studies at Hildesheim University funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Our aim is to pluralize the canon of philosophy by combining methodologies from cross-cultural philosophy and decolonial theory. Building on the findings of the research project Histories of Philosophy in a Global Perspective, we aim at creating the Hildesheim Encyclopedia of Philosophy (HePS), a database of philosophical documents and practices from a diverse set of languages and regions with commentaries from experts. Additionally, we organize a broad range of events to connect academic and public discourse and invite Fellows from around the world to work with us locally at our center in Hildesheim.
Together with scholars from the Global South we want to work on diversifying the philosophical canon in a global perspective, decolonizing the academic discipline of philosophy, making marginalized languages and traditions of philosophy visible, and creating new lines of communication between philosophers and networks worldwide. In addition to numerous thematic workshops on intercultural and decolonial philosophy in collaboration with the fellows on site, the project aims to produce introductory literature for use in teaching and research on philosophies from a global perspective.
The discipline of philosophy today faces not only the challenges of a globalized world but is also confronted with calls for the decolonization of the sciences. The aim of the research group is to bring together the preliminary work and debates already pointing in this direction—stemming from comparative and intercultural philosophy, philosophical discourses in non-European regions of the world, and postcolonial and decolonial theory—into a fruitful exchange that promotes an equitable and open-ended dialogue. We are pursuing a variety of systematic questions following research questions arise from this:
- How can the concept of “philosophy” be systematically redefined based on a pluralized perspective of philosophy?
- Which systematic and ethical consequences can be drawn for the practice of philosophizing in a globalized world?
- Which practices and forms of expression become relevant when philosophizing from a global perspective?
- What historical and systematic consequences arise from the possibility of entangled histories of philosophizing for the “canon” of philosophy and the practice of philosophizing in academic research and teaching?
- What concrete possibilities exist for redefining a globally oriented “canon” of philosophy?
- How can philosophy open itself to other disciplines, and how can the field be redefined in relation to other disciplines?
This approach seeks to explore both future possibilities and fundamental challenges that globally oriented philosophizing faces today by addressing historical and systematic questions