I’ve taught university philosophy courses for 16 years and for the most part, I am not allowed to teach anything but Western philosophy. It is a decision that is handed down from on high. Only one school I have worked for had a non-western philosophy course on the catalog, but it was offered only once every three years. I was the only faculty member willing to teach it. Another school did allow a non-Western course after a group of 11 students petitioned to get one and asked me to teach it. That course was the most fun I’ve had teaching. Sad that it was a one-off, because the higher ups refused to allow it added to the catalog.

It’s a tragic myopia that accreditation boards, universities, trustees, textbook publishers, and so on believe that only the Western pantheon of philosophers is worth teaching. I correct myself — that only the Western pantheon of white male philosophers is worth teaching.