The Needham Question: A Non-Eurocentric Approach Transcending Dialogism

Thanks largely to the example set by Needham, by the 2000s, non-Eurocentric scholars had established a relatively strong case for the dialogical approach—the view that Europe was able to breakthrough into modern science thanks to what it had learnt from knowledges transmitted from non-European civilizations. Eurocentric scholars responded in a number of ways including advancing what have been referred to as neo-Eurocentric arguments. Dialogism has been unable to rebut neo-Eurocentric arguments due to connatural limitations of the approach which are theoretical and methodological in nature. Hence, since the early 2010s, a stalemate has existed between Eurocentrism/neo-Eurocentrism and dialogism. This chapter breaks this stalemate by addressing the theoretical-methodological limitations of dialogism through constructing an interdisciplinary theoretical-methodological framework for analyzing intellectual developments including the rise of modern science. On its basis, Eurocentrism and neo-Eurocentrism are rebutted, and, with dialogism’s help, the Needham Question is satisfactorily resolved on a non-essentialist basis.