This volume addresses, from a Wittgensteinian perspective, the philosophical question of how to understand other cultures. In so doing, it brings into discussion Wittgensteinian and other cultural philosophical traditions, stemming notably from the West African Yoruba community, Japan, China, and India. The book is therefore not just about intercultural understanding, but also brings together, under the umbrella of Wittgensteinian philosophy, a plurality of cultural voices and philosophical cultures, and sets out to develop an approach to the question of intercultural understanding that emphasises the connection between its epistemological, ethical and political aspects. 

We propose that the Wittgensteinian tradition – spanning not only Wittgenstein’s own corpus but also the work of other prominent and up-and-coming philosophers directly influenced by Wittgenstein – is ideally suited to this task, insofar as it is already fully versant with the two central notions at play: the notion of culture and that of understanding. 

The book is divided into two parts, each of which includes six papers. Part I presents a series of new proposals on how best to model intercultural understanding. Part II examines a new set of challenges to intercultural understanding, stemming from relativism, the philosophy of disagreement and the problem of cultural othering, amongst others. The contributions to this volume build on a wealth of Wittgensteinian strategies and methodologies to develop an imaginative, fresh portfolio of philosophical responses to the intercultural question, as well as strategies for addressing the special challenges it poses.

Carla Carmona teaches Theory of Dialogue and Interculturality, East Asian Aesthetics and Epistemology at the University of Seville. She has specialized in social epistemology and the philosophy of Wittgenstein.

David Pérez-Chico is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Zaragoza (Spain) since 2006. His research focuses mainly on Wittgenstein, Stanley Cavell, Ernest Sosa, Ordinary Language Philosophy, Epistemology and on the intersection of Philosophy and Film. He has edited a good number of volumes and papers on those topics.

Chon Tejedor is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Valencia, Spain since 2017, having previously been Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire for four years and Lecturer at the University of Oxford for twelve, in the United Kingdom. She works on Wittgenstein, epistemology and ethics.

Anthem Studies in Wittgenstein

Introduction; Part I. Models of Intercultural Understanding after Wittgenstein, 1. Understanding Other Cultures (Without Mind-Reading) Constantine Sandis; 2. Intercultural Understanding, Epistemic Interaction and Polyphonic Cultures Chon Tejedor; 3. Situated Judgements as a New Model for Intercultural Communication Carla Carmona and Neftalí Villanueva; 4.Seeing Differently, Behaving Differently. Intercultural Understanding between Ethics and Aesthetics Alice Morelli; 5 .Musicking as Knowing Human Beings Eran Guter; 6. Intercultural Understanding and the Possibility of Cross-Cultural Philosophy: Wittgensteinian and Zhuangzian Perspectives Curie Virág; Part II. Challenges to Intercultural Understanding after Wittgenstein: Relativism, Disagreement and Cultural Exclusion; 7. Rule-Following, Unconditional Prescriptions and the Elusiveness of Intercultural Understanding Josep E. Corbí; 8. Interculturality, Ordinary Language and Translation from Wittgenstein to Cavell Sandra Laugier; 9. Truth in Ethics and Intercultural Understanding: Cora Diamond on a Dispute between Bernard Williams and David Wiggins Sofia Miguens; 10. Beyond Contemplation: On Decolonizing Philosophy of Religion and Thinking with Indigenous Ontologies Patrice Haynes; 11. Thinking with Wittgenstein on Caste-bound Morality and Inherited Traditions Meena Dhanda; 12. Understanding Misunderstanding Gilad Nir; Index