After the Second World War, philosophers from former colonies began to work on a hermeneutic better suited to the postcolonial context, as the frameworks adopted in conventional academic philosophy were considered to be inadequate in this regard. This position had already been taken during the colonial period by thinkers like Rabindranath Tagore. Today, current work on world philosophies seems to be informed by similar concerns. This paper will first focus on the common ground between these positions by delineating reasons for closely attending to the context in which philosophy is carried out as well as to the impact that this practice could, and does, have on the lives of those it affects. The paper will then revisit Tagore's spirited appeal to reappropriate and recontextualise the aspects of Asian traditions that undergird common humanity in a world dominated by imperialism and colonialism, before briefly dwelling on current work on world philosophies.