Metaphysics of Harmony

Historically, the Western encounter with difference has been catastrophic:  the extermination and displacement of aboriginal populations, the transatlantic slave trade, and colonialism.  China took a different historical path.  What can we in the West learn about our understanding of racial identity and racism from the Chinese approach to pluralism informed by Chinese philosophy?  How does a ‘metaphysics of harmony’ lead to international relationships of mutual exchange rather than domination, as Shuchen Xiang argues in her book “Chinese Cosmopolitanism:  The History and Philosophy of an Idea”?

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