Olejar Books

"Our world is getting smaller, but not necessarily more just and inclusive. Globalization brings people and cultures together and produces, next to deep and rich encounters, also exclusion, racism, xenophobia and asymmetries. The present book takes implicitly these daily issues as the starting point, by a thorough reflection on them from the viewpoint of worldviews, as one possible entrance among many. More specifically does it focus on the implicit and explicit comprehensions and assumptions people have of the world, themselves and others. Some comprehensions or assumptions are very deep and difficult to set aside. But they have an important function, for without them we continually would need to question what we do and what we think. Yet, these assumptions, in their absolutist form, become a barrier for open mindedness, and hence for deep intercultural understanding and exchange. We need to find a balance between both stances. Intercultural philosophy tries to fulfil this role, on the one hand by comparing different cultures on a deep philosophical level, and as a way to better understand each other core assumption, on the other hand by arguing for an intercultural philosophy, grounded in specific cases. The contributions of this book have in mind ""another possible world"" where cultural and religious diversity are not condemned to be motives for ""Clashs of Civilizations"", but rather inspiration for respect among ""differents""."