Zum Verständnis chinesischer Philosophie in Europa – Einige Anmerkungen zu zwei sehr unterschiedlichen neuen Darstellungen

Chinese philosophy is en vogue again. While the German media is full of terrible news from the People's Republic of China, the interest of an educated public in finding out about the background of the great and still distant Chinese civilization is increasing. The two books reviewed here, however, could not approach the subject more differently. While Heubel tries to generalize thoughts on the nature of Chinese philosophy, the fundamentally revised new edition of Schleichert's standard work aims to be no more than a reliable presentation of the ideas of ancient Chinese philosophers. Both works, however, are written with the intention of enlightenment.

Fabian Heubel, Was ist chinesische Philosophie? Kritische Perspektiven, Hamburg: Meiner, 2021. 404 S.; Hubert Schleichert/Heiner Roetz, Klassische chinesische Philosophie. Eine Einführung, 4. Auflage, Frankfurt a. M.: Klostermann, 2021. 438 S.