End of Comparative Philosophy and the Task of Comparative Thinking, The: Heidegger, Derrida, and Daoism »

Steven Burik teaches philosophy at Singapore Management University and also at the Center for American Education, Broward College, Singapore.

A work of and about comparative philosophy that stresses the importance of language in intercultural endeavors.

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 Heidegger and the Other Commencement 11

Heidegger's Greek Connection 11

Anaximander 14

Parmenides 19

Heraclitus 20

Heidegger and the Poets 23

Poetry and Thinking 24

Poetry and Language 26

Hölderlin, the foreign, and Translation 28

Heidegger and the "East" 33

Early Heidegger and Comparative Philosophy 35

Later Heidegger and Comparative Philosophy 37

Concluding Heidegger 45

Chapter 2 Derrida: Otherness, Context, and Openness 49

Deconstructing the Ideas behind Metaphysics 53

Misreading Derrida 53

Beyond Heidegger? 58

Language, Text, and Translation in Derrida 64

Derrida in Comparative Philosophy 70

Identity and Openness 71

Derrida's Hints at different cultures 74

"The Other Is Already There, Irreducibly." 81

Concluding Derrida 85

Chapter 3 Rereading Daoism; The Other Way 87

Metaphysical Readings of Daoist Philosophy 90

The Metaphysical Tradition and Comparison 98

The Possibility of Difference 100

Interpretations of Classical Chinese Language 101

Inconstancy of Dao: No Transcendence Necessary 113

Inside & Outside: The Gateway (Men) 124

Concluding Daoism 132

Chapter 4 Thinking, Philosophy, and Language: Comparing Heidegger, Derrida, and Classical Daoism 135

Metaphysics, Difference, and Comparisons 137

Difference and Comparison 137

Metaphysics and comparison 139

Thinking and Philosophy 145

Heidegger and Daoism 148

Derrida and Daoism 160

Language in Comparison 166

"Beyond" the Inversion of Opposites 176

Ethical and Political Implications 182

Concluding the Comparison 187

Conclusion 189

Notes 193

Bibliography 213

Index 225