User:Smcallister1/Preparatory Assignment

Critique of Chinese Philosophy Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_philosophy

This article does a fine job surveying Chinese schools of thought, but it almost completely ignores the significant paradigm shift that occurred in Chinese intellectual circles during the beginning of the 20th century. At the turn of the 19th century China was forced to recognize the west's prowess, and intellectuals in China began exploring western philosophy in the hopes of finding a means for China to regain a powerful position in the world. As a result, many western ideas, including a distinct concept of philosophy, were added to China's intellectual discourse. There is mention of westernization in the "Modern era" section of the article. However, this section, like most of the article, merely skims some history relevant to the development of Chinese philosophy during that time, and the complex identity crisis Chinese intellectuals were confronting thanks to western prosperity is barely referred to. All that is said about the enormous influence western ideas had is, " Chinese philosophy had also begun to integrate concepts of Western philosophy, as steps toward modernization." Furthermore, the origin story of a concept for philosophy in China is not mentioned. Instead, the article gives the impression that Chinese philosophy is an ancient concept when a chinese word for philosophy didn't even exist until about 100 years ago. The article is titled Chinese Philosophy, but it ignores important facts about Chinese philosophy and merely informs the reader about ideas associated with Chinese philosophy.

Critique of Yogácára Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yogacara

The important role Zhang Binglin created for Yogácára at the beginning of the 20th century is not mentioned once in this article, but useful information about the tenets and texts of this school of Buddhism is written here. Zhang Binglin used a systematic way of reasoning established by Yogácára to combat many western ideas, and although his argument is not always compelling, he inspired a belief that Chinese schools of thought are based on a philosophical system. This empowered the ideas of Confucius and the like because they became grounded in a, "sophisticated knowledge system which could serve as an authoritative alternative to the knowledge systems being introduced by the West." However, this article does not mention this accomplish at all. Instead the legacy of Yogácára is supposedly its influence on the Zen schools. The article is a helpful source for basic information about the history, ideas, and texts of Yogácára, but the modern significance of this belief system is not mentioned.

Critique of Rights Article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights

This article provides a smattering of information about what rights mean and have meant, and it briefly describes historical events relevant to the concept of rights. However, the impression of rights developed in China is not mentioned once. A simple search of the article for the words China or east yields zero results. This fact reveals the complete lack of consideration China is given in this text. This is a major failing of the article considering, "China has had a rich and contested discourse about rights." The west might be responsible for this discourse, but the Chinese contribution to humanity's understanding of rights is still important. Every historical event mentioned, except one, took place in the west, so besides disregarding China, this article virtually ignores every nonwestern impression of rights. The west does have a primary role in humanity's conception of right. However, this article still holds a very obvious bias that limits its use.

Opportunities and Challenges
Writing a wikipedia article about Chinese philosophy is an excellent way for me to flush out my understanding of our class material, but considering the complexity of the subject, writing an article will challenge my ability to be concise. Writing about Chinese philosophy in wikipedia will help me obtain a very firm understanding of our material. Writing about the philosophy in any context would force me to do have a good grasp of it, but writing for wikipedia will require an extra measure of understanding. That is because an encyclopedia article must explain material in a quick and accessible way. That means I can't just describe the philosophy step by step, in as much detail as I require. I have to be able to condense the philosophy such that its core is retained. I will have to know the material so well that I can figure out its most essential elements and then write those down in a cohesive way. Normal philosophy papers wouldn't require so much condensing of the material, and that element of writing a wikipedia assignment will be a challenge for me. However, the understand that task requires provides a great opportunity for me to learn Chinese philosophy very thoroughly.