The book covers various central aspects of cultures of the Global South, including religious, mythological, ethical, and conceptual ideas in China, India, Africa, South America, Greece, and the Islamic world. Each contribution in the book introduces a major aspect of a given tradition to a non-specialist readership. The book discusses early Chinese mythology and the role of “immortals” in Chinese religion, the connection between mythology and philosophy in early Greece, the veneration of the Earth in native South American religion, a comparison of mythological beliefs and religious practices among various indigenous communities, and a depiction of the interplay between religion and politics in India. It looks at traditional Chinese values, indigenous African values, notions of time in Mayan culture, concepts of the feminine in Islam, and discussions of the relation between faith and reason in Indian philosophy and between order and truth in Chinese and European philosophy.

As part of the Emergence and Decline of Civilizations series, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of philosophy, religion, ethics, sociology, and regional studies.

Hans-Georg Moeller is a professor of philosophy at the University of Macau, China. His books include You and Your Profile: Identity after Authenticity, Genuine Pretending: On the Philosophy of the Zhuangzi (both with Paul D’Ambrosio), The Moral Fool: A Case for Amorality, The Radical Luhmann, The Philosophy of the Daodejing, and The Enigma of Gender. He is content creator of the YouTube channels Carefree Wandering and Philosophy in Motion.

Liu Liangjian is a professor in the Department of Philosophy and the Institute of Modern Chinese Thought and Culture at East China Normal University, Shanghai, China, and a guest professor of the Ma Yifu Institute at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China. His works include Philosophical Investigation with an Approach to Chinese Linguistic Philosophy (2025) and A Philosophical Interpretation of “The Little Prince” (2025).