The Intercultural Dialectic of the Philosophy of Religions: The Case of Japan and China

Abstract

A critical intercultural approach to the philosophy of religion engenders a need to rethink aspects of this field of philosophical reflection, which focuses on Christian themes of European origin. How do we think philosophically about religion from an intercultural perspective, overcoming the Eurocentric, Christian-centric, and interreligious limitations? We aim to go beyond these limits, looking for the etymology of the word religion in the contexts of Europe, Japan, and China. We begin with the critical and intercultural analysis of the etymology of the word “religion” in its Latin origins from early times up to its appropriation in Japan and China. The construction of the term religion in Japan and China was necessary to expand on subjects beyond the European interpretation of religion. Our goal is to propose a Latin American intercultural perspective of religion: (1) to expand the view about what is and what is not religion considering the singularity of each culture studied; (2) to investigate how people can reflect beyond their social support point, introducing transformations in the concept of religion; (3) to consider the options of each subject, their justifications and arguments concerning the conflicts among cultural differences; and (4) to question the boundaries of what intends to be universal and the conceptual range of singular ideas formed from a specific religious tradition.