|
|
Books > Philosophy > Non-Western philosophy > General
What happens when the Dalai Lama meets with leading physicists and
a historian? This book is the carefully edited record of the
fascinating discussions at a Mind and Life conference in which five
leading physicists and a historian (David Finkelstein, George
Greenstein, Piet Hut, Arthur Zajonc, Anton Zeilinger, and Tu
Weiming) discussed with the Dalai Lama current thought in
theoretical quantum physics, in the context of Buddhist philosophy.
A contribution to the science-religion interface, and a useful
explanation of our basic understanding of quantum reality, couched
at a level that intelligent readers without a deep involvement in
science can grasp. In the tradition of other popular books on
resonances between modern quantum physics and Zen or Buddhist
mystical traditions--notably The Dancing Wu Li Masters and The Tao
of Physics, this book gives a clear and useful update of the
genuine correspondences between these two rather disparate
approaches to understanding the nature of reality.
Sanchez and Sanchez have selected, edited, translated, and
introduced some of the most influential texts in Mexican
philosophy, which constitute a unique and robust tradition that
will challenge and complicate traditional conceptions of
philosophy. The texts collected here are organized chronologically
and represent a period of Mexican thought and culture that emerged
from the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and which culminated in la
filosofia de lo mexicano (the philosophy of Mexicanness). Though
the selections reflect on a variety of philosophical questions,
collectively they represent a growing tendency to take seriously
the question of Mexican national identity as a philosophical
question-especially given the complexities of Mexico's indigenous
and European ancestries, a history of colonialism, and a growing
dependency on foreign money and culture. More than an attempt to
describe the national character, however, the texts gathered here
represent an optimistic period in Mexican philosophy that aimed to
affirm Mexican culture and philosophy as a valuable, if not urgent,
contribution to universal culture.
If you are from the West, it is likely that you normally assume
that you are a subject who relates to objects and other subjects
through actions that spring purely from your own intentions and
will. Chinese philosophers, however, show how mistaken this
conception of action is. Philosophy of action in Classical China is
radically different from its counterpart in the Western
philosophical narrative. While the latter usually assumes we are
discrete individual subjects with the ability to act or to effect
change, Classical Chinese philosophers theorize that human life is
embedded in endless networks of relationships with other entities,
phenomena, and socio-material contexts. These relations are primary
to the constitution of the person, and hence acting within an early
Chinese context is interacting and co-acting along with others,
human or nonhuman. This book is the first monograph dedicated to
the exploration and rigorous reconstruction of an extraordinary
strategy for efficacious relational action devised by Classical
Chinese philosophers, one which attempts to account for the
interdependent and embedded character of human agency-what Mercedes
Valmisa calls "adapting" or "adaptive agency" (yin) As opposed to
more unilateral approaches to action conceptualized in the
Classical Chinese corpus, such as forceful and prescriptive agency,
adapting requires heightened self- and other-awareness, equanimity,
flexibility, creativity, and response. These capacities allow the
agent to "co-raise" courses of action ad hoc: unique and temporary
solutions to specific, non-permanent, and non-generalizable life
problems. Adapting is one of the world's oldest philosophies of
action, and yet it is shockingly new for contemporary audiences,
who will find in it an unlikely source of inspiration to cope with
our current global problems. This book explores the core conception
of adapting both on autochthonous terms and by cross-cultural
comparison, drawing on the European and Analytic philosophical
traditions as well as on scholarship from other disciplines.
Valmisa exemplifies how to build meaningful philosophical theories
without treating individual books or putative authors as locations
of stable intellectual positions, opening brand-new topics in
Chinese and comparative philosophy.
Caught between the history of exclusion and the reality of the
world philosophies approach, this is an introduction to African
philosophy unlike any other. With distinctive insight Pascah
Mungwini brings together African philosophy and the emancipative
mission, introducing African thought as a practice defined by its
own history and priority questions while always in dialogue with
the world. He charts the controversies and contestations around the
contemporary practice of philosophy as an academic enterprise in
Africa, examining some of philosophy's most serious mistakes,
omissions, and failures. Covering the history of African
philosophy's development and trajectory, Mungwini's introduction
focuses on the struggle for intellectual liberation. His compelling
portrayal reveals that true liberation begins by understanding
one's own world, an essential point for anyone beginning to explore
another philosophical tradition on its own terms.
Informed by Gloria Anzaldua's and Jose Carlos Mariategui's work, as
well as by Andean cosmology, Omar Rivera turns to Inka stonework
and architecture as an example of a "Cosmological Aesthetics." He
articulates ways of sensing, feeling and remembering that are
attuned to an aesthetic of water, earth and light. On this basis,
Rivera brings forth a corporeal orientation that can be inhabited
by the oppressed, one that withdraws from predominant
modern/Western conceptions of the human. By providing an aesthetic
analysis of cosmological sensing, Rivera sets the stage for
exploring physical dimensions of anti-colonial resistance, and
furthers the Latinx and Latin American tradition of anti-colonial
and liberatory philosophy. Seeing aesthetic involvements with the
cosmos as a source for embodied modes of resistance, Rivera turns
to the work of Maria Lugones and Enrique Dussel in order to make
explicit the aesthetic dimensions of their work. Andean Aesthetics
and Anticolonial Resistance creates a new dialogue between art
historians, artists, and philosophers working on Latin American
thought, phenomenology, and hermeneutics. It weaves together a
Latin American philosophy that connects pre-Columbian cosmologies
with contemporary thinkers. Rivera's original approach introduces
us to the living, evolving and aesthetic alternatives to
coloniality of power and of knowledge, overhauling current
understandings of decolonial theory and opening the tradition in
transformative ways.
**Choice Outstanding Academic Title, 2021** Coping with the climate
crisis is the greatest challenge we face as a species. We know the
main task is to reduce our emissions as rapidly as possible to
minimise the harm to the world’s population now and for
generations to come. What on earth can philosophy offer us? In this
compelling account of a problem we think we know inside out, the
philosopher Graham Parkes outlines the climatic predicament we are
in and how we got here, and explains how we can think about it anew
by considering the relevant history, science, economics, politics
and, for the first time, the philosophies underpinning them.
Introducing the reality of global warming and its increasingly dire
consequences, he identifies the immediate obstructions to coping
with the problem, outlines the libertarian ideology behind them and
shows how they can be circumvented. Drawing on the wisdom of the
ancients in both the East-Asian and Western traditions (as embodied
in such figures as Confucius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Dogen, Plato,
Epicurus, Marcus Aurelius and Nietzsche), Parkes shows how a
greater awareness of non-Western philosophies, and especially the
Confucian political philosophy advocated by China, can help us deal
effectively with climate change and thrive in a greener future. If
some dominant Western philosophical ideas and their instantiation
in politics and modern technology got us into our current crisis,
Parkes demonstrates persuasively that expanding our philosophical
horizons will surely help get us out.
Featuring the Chinese text on the left and the English translation
on the right, this beautifully bound edition of Sun Tzu's classic
text makes a unique gift or collector's item. Written in the sixth
century BCE, Sun Tzu's The Art of War is still widely read and
consulted today for its timeless, piercing insights into strategy
and tactics. Napoleon, Mao Zedong, General Vo Nguyen Giap, and
General Douglas MacArthur all claimed to have drawn inspiration
from it. Beyond the world of war, business and management gurus
have also applied Sun Tzu's ideas to office politics and corporate
strategy. This edition of The Art of War is printed on high-quality
paper and bound by traditional Chinese book-making techniques. It
contains the full 13 chapters on such topics as laying plans,
attacking by stratagem, weaponry, terrain, and the use of spies.
Sun Tzu addresses different campaign situations, marching, energy,
and how to exploit your enemy's weaknesses. This edition is an
essential addition to any library, whether you're fascinated by the
philosophy of warfare, Chinese history, or even
twenty-first-century business.
Covering the symbolic systems and worldviews of the Indigenous
peoples of Aotearoa, New Zealand, this book is a concise
introduction to Maori philosophy. It addresses core philosophical
issues including Maori notions of the self, the world,
epistemology, the form in which Maori philosophy is conveyed, and
whether or not Maori philosophy has a teleological agenda.
Introducing students to key texts, thinkers and themes, the book
includes: - A Maori-to-English glossary and an index - Accessible
interpretations of primary source material - Teaching notes, and
reflections on how the studied material engages with contemporary
debates - End-of-chapter discussion questions that can be used in
teaching - Comprehensive bibliographies and guided suggestions for
further reading. Maori Philosophy is an ideal text for students
studying World Philosophies, or anyone who wishes to use Indigenous
philosophies or methodologies in their own research and
scholarship.
The first volume to offer a comprehensive scholarly treatment of
Rand s entire corpus (including her novels, her philosophical
essays, and her analysis of the events of her times), this
Companion provides vital orientation and context for scholars and
educated readers grappling with a controversial and understudied
thinker whose enduring influence on American (and world) culture is
increasingly recognized. * The first publication to provide an
in-depth scholarly treatment ranging over the whole of Rand s
corpus * Provides informed contextual analysis for scholars in a
variety of disciplines * Presents original research on unpublished
material and drafts from the Rand archives in California * Features
insightful and fair-minded interpretations of Rand s controversial
positions
A New Physiognomy of Jewish Thinking is a search for authenticity
that combines critical thinking with a yearning for heartfelt
poetics. A physiognomy of thinking addresses the figure of a life
lived where theory and praxis are unified. This study explores how
the critical essays on music of German-Jewish thinker, Theodor
Wiesengrund Adorno (1903-1969) necessarily accompany the downfall
of metaphysics. By scrutinizing a critical juncture in modern
intellectual history, marked in 1931 by Adorno's founding of the
Frankfurt Institute for Social Research, neglected applications of
Critical Theory to Jewish Thought become possible. This study
proffers a constructive justification of a critical standpoint,
reconstructively shown how such ideals are seen under the
genealogical proviso of re/cognizing their original meaning.
Re/cognition of A New Physiognomy of Jewish Thinking redresses
neglected applications of Negative Dialectics, the poetics of God,
the metaphysics of musical thinking, reification in Zionism, the
transpoetics of Physics and Metaphysics, as well as correlating
Aesthetic Theory to Jewish Law (halakhah). >
The critical condition and historical motivation behind Time
Studies The concept of time in the post-millennial age is
undergoing a radical rethinking within the humanities. Time: A
Vocabulary of the Present newly theorizes our experiences of time
in relation to developments in post-1945 cultural theory and arts
practices. Wide ranging and theoretically provocative, the volume
introduces readers to cutting-edge temporal conceptualizations and
investigates what exactly constitutes the scope of time studies.
Featuring twenty essays that reveal what we talk about when we talk
about time today, especially in the areas of history, measurement,
and culture, each essay pairs two keywords to explore the tension
and nuances between them, from "past/future" and
"anticipation/unexpected" to "extinction/adaptation" and
"serial/simultaneous." Moving beyond the truisms of postmodernism,
the collection newly theorizes the meanings of temporality in
relationship to aesthetic, cultural, technological, and economic
developments in the postwar period. This book thus assumes that
time-not space, as the postmoderns had it-is central to the
contemporary period, and that through it we can come to terms with
what contemporaneity can be for human beings caught up in the
historical present. In the end, Time reveals that the present is a
cultural matrix in which overlapping temporalities condition and
compete for our attention. Thus each pair of terms presents two
temporalities, yielding a generative account of the time, or times,
in which we live.
Clinical Trials and the African Person aims to position the African
notion of the self/person within the clinical trials context. As
opposed to autonomy-based principlism, this
other-regarding/communalist perspective is the preferred
alternative model. This tactic draws further attention to the
inadequacy of the principlist approach particularly in
multicultural settings. It also engenders a rethink, stimulates
interest, and re-assesses the failed assumptions of universal
ethical principles. As a novel attempt that runs against much of
the prevailing (Euro-American) intellectual mood, this approach
strives to introduce the African viewpoint by making explicit the
import of the self in a re-contextualized arena, meaning within the
community and a given milieu. Thus, research ethics must go beyond
autonomy-based considerations for the individual, to rightly embed
him/her within his/her community and the environment.
Based on several years of research on Jewish intellectual life in
the Renaissance, this book tries to distinguish the coordinates of
"modernity" as premises of Jewish philosophy, and vice versa. In
the first part, it is concerned with the foundations of Jewish
philosophy, its nature as philosophical science and as wisdom. The
second part is devoted to certain elements and challenges of the
humanist and Renaissance period as reflected in Judaism: historical
consciousness and the sciences, utopian tradition, the legal status
of the Jews in Christian political tradition and in Jewish
political thought, aesthetic concepts of the body and conversion.
Wisdom and Philosophy: Contemporary and Comparative Approaches
questions the nature of the relationship between wisdom and
philosophy from an intercultural perspective. Bringing together an
international mix of respected philosophers, this volume discusses
similarities and differences of Western and Asian pursuits of
wisdom and reflects on attempts to combine them. Contributors cover
topics such as Confucian ethics, the acquisition of wisdom in
pre-Qin literature and anecdotes of stupidity in the classical
Chinese tradition, while also addressing contemporary topics such
as global Buddhism and analytic metaphysics. Providing original
examples of comparative philosophy, contributors look at ideas and
arguments of thinkers such as Confucius, Zhuangzi and Zhu Xi
alongside the work of Aristotle, Plato and Heidegger. Presenting
Asian perspectives on philosophy as practical wisdom, Wisdom and
Philosophy is a rare intercultural inquiry into the relation
between wisdom and philosophy. It provides new ways of
understanding how wisdom connects to philosophy and underlines the
need to reintroduce it into philosophy today.
This outline of Korea's civilisation is a cultural history that
examines the ways the Korean people over the past two millennia
understood the world and viewed their place in society. In the
traditional era, the interaction between several broad religious
and philosophical traditions and social institutions, state
interests and, at times, external pressures, provides the framework
of the story. In the modern era, the chief concern is with the
rapid and momentous cultural changes that have occurred over the
past one and a half centuries in the idea and spread of education,
the rise in influence of students, the development of mass culture,
the redefinition of gender, and the continuing importance of
religion.
The medieval Jewish philosophers Saadia Gaon, Bahya ibn Pakuda, and
Moses Maimonides made significant contributions to moral philosophy
in ways that remain relevant today.
Jonathan Jacobs explicates shared, general features of the thought
of these thinkers and also highlights their distinctive
contributions to understanding moral thought and moral life. The
rationalism of these thinkers is a key to their views. They argued
that seeking rational understanding of Torah's commandments and the
created order is crucial to fulfilling the covenant with God, and
that intellectual activity and ethical activity form a spiral of
mutual reinforcement. In their view, rational comprehension and
ethical action jointly constitute a life of holiness. Their
insights are important in their own right and are also relevant to
enduring issues in moral epistemology and moral psychology,
resonating even in the contemporary context.
The central concerns of this study include (i) the relations
between revelation and rational justification, (ii) the roles of
intellectual virtue and ethical virtue in human perfection, (iii)
the implications of theistic commitments for topics such as freedom
of the will, the acquisition of virtues and vices, repentance,
humility, and forgiveness, (iv) contrasts between medieval Jewish
moral thought and the practical wisdom approach to moral philosophy
and the natural law approach to it, and (v) the universality and
objectivity of moral elements of Torah.
This book provides a refreshing look at kindergarten teachers'
practical knowledge and their context-specific reasoning of the
usefulness of constructivism from a culturally emic perspective.
Examining the similarities and differences between constructivism
and Confucianism from both instructional and moral perspectives, it
provides a unique contribution to teaching and teacher education.
An understanding of the compatibility between constructivism and
Confucianism is valuable in cross-cultural exchange and learning,
and as such the book is a great source for educational researchers
in a time of globalization.
A deluxe special edition of the ancient classic written by the
Roman Emperor known as "The Philosopher" Meditations is a series of
personal journals written by Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome from
169 to 180 AD. The last of the "Five Good Emperors," he was the
most powerful and influential man in the Western world at the time.
Marcus was one of the leaders of Stoicism, a philosophy of personal
ethics which sought resilience and virtue through personal action
and responsibility. Stoicism, viewed as a foundation of modern
self-help, has inspired many personal development and psychotherapy
approaches through to the present day. Meditations is perhaps the
most important source of our modern understanding of Stoic
philosophy. Its twelve books chronicle different stages of Marcus
Aurelius' life and ideas. Although he ruled during the Pax Romana,
the age of relative peace and stability throughout the empire, his
reign was marked by near-constant military conflict and a
devastating plague which killed upwards of five million people.
Aurelius' writings give modern readers an unprecedented look into
the "spiritual exercises" which helped him through his tumultuous
life and strengthened his patience, empathy, generosity,
self-knowledge and emotional health. The private reflections
recorded in the Meditations were never meant to be published,
rather they were a source for Marcus' own guidance and
self-improvement, and jotted down by campfires or in military tents
on the Roman front. The lessons, insights and perspectives
contained within this remarkable work are just as relevant today as
they were two millennia ago. This volume: Presents the timeless
wisdom of Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his Stoic philosophy, with
new research on his life and times Contains valuable insights on
topics such as resilience, moderation and emotional control
Discusses how to live "in agreement with nature" and abide by
strong ethical principles Part of the bestselling Capstone Classics
Series edited by Tom Butler-Bowdon, this attractive, high-quality
hardcover volume includes: An original Introduction by Marcus
Aurelius authority and Stoicism expert Donald Robertson, author of
How To Think Like A Roman Emperor. A modernised, up to date version
of the classic George Long translation. Meditations: The Philosophy
Classic is a volume which will occupy a prominent place in any
library for years to come.
Mindfulness for the High Performance World provides a unique
approach to mindfulness training, built upon the principles of
Buddhist philosophy written in line with the Dalai Lama's
description of meditation and mindfulness as "Science of the Mind".
This unique volume explores mindfulness as a learnable skill in
context with the underpinnings of the teachings of Eastern
psychology. The authors, Norm, a physician, cancer researcher and
triathlete and Karolynn, a psychotherapist, mindfulness meditation
teacher and marathoner, live and work in a high-stress,
high-expectation world. Their approach is rooted in an
understanding that thoughts produce biochemical and physiological
changes and provides a strategic framework to instruct an
individual on how to categorize types of thoughts. After harnessing
this ability, one is positioned to become both more aware of his or
her thoughts as well as the specific patterns of sensations they
produce, or Sentinel Sites . The awareness of what the mind is
doing and the ability to interrupt a thought pattern and/or control
the response almost instantly leads one to having a healthier life,
improved relationships with others and better adaptability to one's
environment. Emphasizing the importance of physical activity and
nutrition, the authors present a systematic approach for people who
want to learn and incorporate mindfulness and transform how they
live without having to divert their lives and careers. Offering
itself as an accessible and skill-based introduction to the
principles, practices, and benefits of mindfulness, Mindfulness for
the High Performance World is a useful resource for students,
athletes and professionals living and working in high-performance,
high-stress environments and also for mindfulness practitioners
seeking to deepen their skill level.
This book comprises 30 chapters representing certain new trends in
reconcenptualizing Confucian ideas, ideals, values and ways of
thinking by scholars from China and abroad. While divergent in
approaches, these chapters are converged on conceptualizing and
reconceptualizing Confucianism into something philosophically
meaningful and valuable to the people of the 21st century. They are
grouped into three parts, and each is dedicated to one of the three
major themes this book attempts to address. Part one is mainly on
scholarly reviews of Confucian doctrines by which new
interpretations will be drawn out. Part two is an assembled attempt
to reexamine Confucian concepts, in which critiques of traditional
views lead to new perspectives for perennial questions. Part three
is focused on reinterpreting Confucian virtues and values, in the
hope that a new sense of being moral can be gained through old
normative forms.
The contributions to Concepts of Philosophy in Asia and the Islamic
World reflect upon the problems implied in the received notions of
philosophy in the respective scholarly literatures. They ask
whether, and for what reasons, a text should be categorized as a
philosophical text (or excluded from the canon of philosophy), and
what this means for the concept of philosophy. The focus on texts
and textual corpora is central because it makes authors expose
their claims and arguments in direct relation to specific sources,
and discourages generalized reflections on the characteristics of,
for example, Japanese culture or the Indian mind. The volume
demonstrates that close and historically informed readings are the
sine qua non in discussing what philosophy is in Asia and the
Islamic world, just as much as with regard to Western literature
Contributors are Yoko Arisaka, Wolfgang Behr, Thomas Froehlich,
Lisa Indraccolo, Paulus Kaufmann, Iso Kern, Ralf Muller, Gregor
Paul, Lisa Raphals, Fabian Schafer, Ori Sela, Rafael Suter,
Christian Uhl, Viatcheslav Vetrov, Yvonne Schulz Zinda, and
Nicholas Zufferey.
|
|