What Is Peripheral Philosophy?

Abstract The aim of this paper is to critically analyze the account of peripheral philosophy that goes by the name of “the geospatial model” and to propose an alternative account that I call “the knowledge circulation model.” I examine three forms of the geospatial model as developed by three thinkers; the Polish philosopher Eugeniusz Górski’s concept of peripheral thought; the Chilean philosopher Eduardo Devés Valdés, who took up and elaborated on Górski’s concept; and the Argentine philosopher Walter D. Mignolo, who developed a concept of the decoloniality of knowledge. I argue that “the geospatial model” detaches the concept of peripherality from its actual material determination and locates it exclusively in the ideological sphere, thus marking a break with Marxism, dependency theory, and world-systems theory. This leads either to the stereotyping, culturalization, or essentialization of non-Western philosophical production, as well as to a potential ideological function that would see it legitimize the oppressive and imperialist goals of non-Western political powers. Finally, I propose a preliminary definition of the knowledge circulation model of peripheral philosophy as philosophy that is “situated on the outskirts of the global circulation of philosophical production.” This approach retains the decolonial potential but avoids the difficulties associated with the geospatial model.