Well, that certainly wasn’t my experience. Alan Watts was one of the first authors to pique my philosophical curiosities some twenty years ago, and I branched out from there. He absolutely opened the door to actual Asian philosophy for me. In fact, he was the door. I also know this to be true for a lot of people.

Honestly, you just come off like an arrogant, cynical prick. Here’s why your argument is ridiculous:

1) The idea that Philosophy is only Philosophy if obtained through rigorous discipline is absurd.

2) Watts is an Orator, a cosmic entertainer, a bridge between many different philosophies and religions. He is not a rigorous academic, but calling him a hippie guru is as much of a misguided reductionist point of view as what you’re labeling his very philosophy. At the very least he is a great way for anyone with even a passing interest in philosophy to find this path. He single handedly created philosophical yearnings in individuals who had no prior inclinations towards this path. This is always a good thing.

3) The hardcore, disciplined pursuits of philosophy (including those by both rigorous spiritualists and academics) are in no way damaged by any of this. These kinds of individuals were always likely to stumble upon these paths. They are also always going to be able to sift through that which is most important and genuine. What I mean is, any sort of obstruction you feel that comes from Watts should not affect these kinds of individuals anyways.

4) So, does this mean you don’t like Alan Watts because you feel he creates a poor image of eastern philosophy to the general public? So what. He’s either providing some spiritual/philosophical guidance to large groups of people who need it and otherwise wouldn’t have access to it or he’s creating a door for them to climb in deeper. These are all good things.

5) I took plenty of philosophy classes in college. Not once did I feel like Alan Watts was getting in the way of anything. It sounds to me like you’re just very arrogant and well read and this has created a negative point of view along the lines of: “only the real, disciplined, rigorous academic philosophy is philosophy and people who aren’t on this level don’t really know anything about philosophy”.

6) Did Alan Watts impede your philosophical learnings? You say Asians who kept this kind of insight to themselves was better than it being diluted amongst the masses? That’s ridiculous. This kind of insight should be given to as many of the general public as possible. Most will not dive deeper and that has been and always will be the case. But, the ones who do, will never be impeded by the door they first walked through.

7) Academia in the west is still dominated by western philosophy. However, there are still plenty of eastern courses. At least in my experience, none of them even brought up the words “Alan Watts”.

8) So, academia isn’t affected negatively by Watts. Neither is the general public. And neither are the hardcore seekers. It just sounds to me like you’re ego is attached firmly with your intellect, the amount of books you’ve read, and in general your own proclaimed disciplined philosophical study to create a bit of a superiority complex.

9) Every practicing Buddhist I’ve ever met has only ever approached me or really anything else with a gentle unattached calmness. Your negativity alone is a bad sign. For me personally, Alan Watts was an absolute savior during some really rough times. His words opened me up in an uncountable number of ways. Sure, it was just a stepping stone. But it was a stepping stone that never reached me from anywhere else. Yes, I branched off from there. And, yes, within the last several years Watts has regained the attention of the youth.. and sometimes that leads to cliches boldly proclaimed by still blind egos.. but that doesn’t mean the negatives outweigh the positives. For me, and so many other people, Alan Watts helped my existence tremendously. Even if some of his philosophy is reductionist, he is not a gimmick. And, he is not a hippie guru. He is profoundly genuine, and that alone is incredibly powerful.