What is the place of the Eastern thought in the West? This volume shows how despite current talk of "globalization", there is still a reluctance to accept that the West could have borrowed anything of significance from the East, and offers a critique of the "orientalist" view that we must view any study of the east through the lens of western colonialism and domination. The text provides an introduction to the fascination Eastern thought has exerted on Western minds since the Renaissance. This survey argues that any adequate history of Western thought must take into account how philosophical, religious and psychological ideas from India, China and Japan have been drawn into Western thought from the 17th century onwards. Tackling debates on orientalism, post colonialism and postmodernism, the text provides a perspective on cross cultural exchanges between East and West.