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Books > Humanities > Philosophy > Non-Western philosophy
This book expands the current axiology of theism literature by
assessing the axiological status of alternative conceptions of God
and the divine. To date, most of the literature on the axiology of
theism focuses almost exclusively on the axiological status of
theism and atheism. Specifically, it focuses almost entirely on
monotheism, typically Judeo-Christian conceptions of God, and
atheism, usually construed as ontological naturalism. This volume
features essays from prominent philosophers of religion, ethicists,
and metaphysicians addressing the value impact of alternative views
such as ultimism, polytheism, pantheism, panentheism, and idealism.
Additionally, it reflects a wider trend in analytic philosophy of
religion to broaden its scope beyond the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Value Beyond Monotheism will be of interest to scholars and
advanced students working in the philosophy of religion, ethics,
and metaphysics.
The Ethical Foundations of Early Daoism: Zhuangzi's Unique Moral
Vision presents a comprehensive study of the normative dimensions
of early Daoism in general and the classic text Zhuangzi in
particular. Lee argues that our inclination to view Daoism as an
amoral tradition stems from Orientalist assumptions about Daoism as
well as our received assumptions about the nature of morality. By
enlarging the scope of morality, Lee suggests that early Daoist
texts like the Zhuangzi can be read as works of moral philosophy
that speak to specifically moral concerns in ethics, government,
and society. Lee casts the moral imperative of the Zhuangzi as an
ethics of attunement to the Way and develops this thesis in the
context of friendship, government, death, and human flourishing.
The title is a collection of essays centering on the topic of
intercultural communication between Chinese and Western cultures by
Tang Yijie, one of the most renowned philosophy scholars in China.
Comprised of five parts, the author discusses how Chinese culture
should modernize itself through borrowing from Western culture
premised on a self-awareness of Chinese culture per se. The book
begins by critiquing theories of the so-called clash of
civilizations and new empires and argues for the coexistence of
cultures and a global consciousness instead. Chapters in the second
part revisit contemporary Chinese culture in transition and call
for the cultural integration of China and the West, with China
defined in both its ancient and modern guises. By providing
reflections on the cultural trends of the 1980s and 1990s, the
third part illustrates the inevitable growth of diversified
cultural development while analyzing cases of cultural dialogue in
history, philosophy and religion. The fourth part demonstrates the
significance of culture diversity and interaction while the fifth
provides thoughts and reflections on some real-life cultural
issues. This title will appeal to all levels of readers interested
in Chinese culture, cross-cultural studies and topics of cultural
pluralism.
The Routledge Handbook of South Asian Religions presents critical
research, overviews, and case studies on religion in historical
South Asia, in the seven nation states of contemporary South Asia:
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the
Maldives, and in the South Asian diaspora. Chapters by an
international set of experts analyse formative developments, roots,
changes and transformations, religious practices and ideas,
identities, relations, territorialisation, and globalisation in
historical and contemporary South Asia. The Handbook is divided
into two parts which first analyse historical South Asian religions
and their developments and second contemporary South Asia religions
that are influenced by both religious pluralism and their close
connection to nation states and their ideological power.
Contributors argue that religion has been used as a tool for
creating nations as well as majorities within those nations in
South Asia, despite their enormous diversity, in particular
religious diversity. The Handbook explores these diversities and
tensions, historical developments, and the present situation across
religious traditions by utilising an array of approaches and from
the point of view of various academic disciplines. Drawing together
a remarkable collection of leading and emerging scholars, this
handbook is an invaluable research tool and will be of interest to
researchers and students in the fields of Asian religion, religion
in context, and South Asian religions.
The present book by Hu Baozhu explores the subject of ghosts and
spirits and attempts to map the religious landscape of ancient
China. The main focus of attention is the character gui , an
essential key to the understanding of spiritual beings. The author
analyses the character gui in various materials - lexicons and
dictionaries, excavated manuscripts and inscriptions, and received
classical texts. Gui is examined from the perspective of its
linguistic root, literary interpretation, ritual practices,
sociopolitical implication, and cosmological thinking. In the
gradual process of coming to know the otherworld in terms of ghosts
and spirits, Chinese people in ancient times attempted to identify
and classify these spiritual entities. In their philosophical
thinking, they connected the subject of gui with the movement of
the universe. Thus the belief in ghosts and spirits in ancient
China appeared to be a moral standard for all, not only providing a
room for individual religiosity but also implementing the purpose
of family-oriented social order, the legitimization of political
operations, and the understanding of the way of Heaven and Earth.
This book addresses prominent views on the nature of the self in
Indian philosophical traditions and presents Buddhist critiques of
those conceptions through the translation and commentary on
Santaraksita's chapter in the Tattvasamgraha on theories of a self
and Kamala-sila's commentary on it in his Tattvasamgrahapanjika.
The book is comprised of an introduction presenting the theories of
a self in the Indian Buddhist Middle Way philosophies and in the
different philosophical schools Santaraksita and Kamalasila study
and offers a background for the translation. The detailed
translation that follows reveals the theories of a self that are
explained in the philosophical schools in India called the
Nyaya-Vaisesika, Mimamsa, Samkhya, Jain, Advaita Vedanta, and
Vatsiputriya. It is complemented by a thorough commentary by the
author which brings the text to light for a modern audience. A
useful contribution to Indian philosophy and global philosophy,
this book will be of interest to researchers in the fields of
Philosophy, Religious Studies and Buddhist Studies.
This title critically examines Mou Zongsan's philosophical system
of moral metaphysics on the level of metaphysics and history
philosophy, which combines Confucianism and Kantianism philosophy.
Mou Zongsan (1909-1995) is one of the representatives of Modern
Confucianism and an important Chinese philosopher of the twentieth
century. The two-volume set looks into the problems in the moral
metaphysics by Mou and his systematic subversion of Confucianism on
three levels: ethics, metaphysics and historical philosophy. In
this second volume the author critiques Mou's philosophical
development of Confucianism on the latter two levels. The first
part analyzes Mou's view on conscience as ontology and his
interpretation of the heavenly principles in Confucianism, arguing
that his theory in fact abolishes Confucian cosmology based on
modern scientific concepts and speaks for modern humanity. The
second part focuses on Mou's remolding of historical philosophy
based on the concept of freedom of Kant, Hegel, and modern Western
philosophy, then assesses his ideological distortions of historical
and political concepts in the Confucian tradition. The title will
appeal to scholars, students and philosophers interested in Chinese
philosophy, Confucian ethics, Neo-Confucianism, and Comparative
Philosophy.
'One of the fiercest books I've ever read' - Jasbir K. Puar
Discourse around Muslims and Islam all too often lapses into a
false dichotomy of Orientalist and fundamentalist tropes. A popular
reimagining of Islam is urgently needed. Yet it is a perhaps
unexpected political philosophical tradition that has the most to
offer in this pursuit: anarchism. Islam and Anarchism is a highly
original and interdisciplinary work, which simultaneously disrupts
two commonly held beliefs - that Islam is necessarily authoritarian
and capitalist; and that anarchism is necessarily anti-religious
and anti-spiritual. Deeply rooted in key Islamic concepts and
textual sources, and drawing on radical Indigenous, Islamic
anarchistic and social movement discourses, Abdou proposes
'Anarcha-Islam'. Constructing a decolonial, non-authoritarian and
non-capitalist Islamic anarchism, Islam and Anarchism
philosophically and theologically challenges the classist, sexist,
racist, ageist, queerphobic and ableist inequalities in both post-
and neo-colonial societies like Egypt, and settler-colonial
societies such as Canada and the USA.
This book focuses on the philosophy of Chinese martial arts film,
arguing that philosophy provides a key to understanding the whole
genre. It draws on Chinese philosophical ideas derived from, or
based on, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and other schools of
thought such as Mohism and Legalism, examines a cluster of recent
Chinese martial arts films centering on the figure of the xia-the
heroic protagonist, the Chinese equivalent of medieval Europe's
knight-errant-and outlines the philosophical principles and themes
undergirding the actions of xia and their narratives. Overall, the
author argues that the genre, apart from being an action-oriented
entertainment medium, is inherently moral and ethical.
The Third Birth of Confucius deals with the Chinese sage and
philosopher Confucius and his philosophical and politico-cultural
legacies. As the title suggests, Confucius has once again taken
birth in China. Confucius 'died' for the first time when he gave
way to Buddhism in the tenth century, but was reinvented again
(Neo-Confucianism). This was the second birth of Confucius. In the
twentieth century, under the influence of western ideas, China's
liberals and Marxists abandoned Confucius again. But how long can a
civilization live without any ideational orientation? Hence, the
third birth of Confucius from AD 2000 onwards. Confucius is
emerging as a proxy word for cultural nationalism. In fact, it is
not one Confucius who is taking birth in China but two. One is the
common man's Confucius, which is authentic and genuine. The other
Confucius is promoted by the Chinese Government. The author
believes that soon either China will embrace democracy or it may
implode and disintegrate like the former Soviet Union. This book is
an attempt to unravel the muddled reality of China and will
definitely prove a landmark work in the field of Chinese Studies.
Nei Gong is the practice leading to attainment of real internal
skill and transformation, and the philosophical art of change that
runs through all Daoist practice. This book provides a
unprecedented insight into the entire Nei Gong process, expanding
upon the foundations laid in the author's previous widely read
book, Daoist Nei Gong, to provide a deeper and more comprehensive
understanding of the practice. Going into unparalleled detail
whilst remaining accessible, it explains the philosophy at the
heart of Nei Gong , and the steps whereby transformation is
achieved. A foundational knowledge of Chinese medicine will help
the reader appreciate the explanation more deeply, but is not
required for understanding. Essential reading for anyone seriously
interested Qi Gong, Chinese martial arts, and the Daoist tradition,
the book will also be an invaluable resource for practitioners of
Chinese medicine, or advanced meditation.
The renaissance of Shi'i Islam began in the 9th/15th century when
the Ismailis experienced the Anjudan revival and Twelver Shi'i
traditions were also renewed. This renaissance gained further
strength when the Safavids succeeded in establishing a state in the
early decades of the 10th/16th century, making Ithna'ashari Shi'i
Islam their official religion. The chapters in this open access
book represent the most recent scholarship on the intellectual and
spiritual life of the age and discuss what prepared the ground for
its appearance as well as its achievements. Although the political
and artistic developments of the Safavid era of the
10th-12th/16th-18th centuries have been extensively studied, the
complexities of the different groups, movements and strands of
thought in the renaissance of Shi'i Islam still remain largely
unexplored. The major themes that characterised the Shi'i
renaissance are explored, including: popular reactions to messianic
movements; the development of legal theories and concepts; the
investigation of theological and philosophical problems, above all
by the 'School of Isfahan'; Shi'i-Sufi interactions and intra-Shi'i
relations; the collection of Shi'i hadith and its application in
Shi'i exegesis; and the interplay between political considerations
and religious beliefs. The eBook editions of this book are
available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on
bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by The Institute
of Ismaili Studies.
With extensive research and creative interpretations, Dasan's Noneo
gogeum ju (Old and New Commentaries of the Analects) has been
evaluated in the academia of Korean Studies as a crystallization of
his studies on the Confucian classics. Dasan (Jeong Yak-yong:
1762-1836) attempted through this book to synthesize and overcome
the lengthy scholarly tradition of the classical studies of the
Analects, leading it not only to represent one of the greatest
achievements of Korean Confucianism but also demonstrate an
innovative prospect for the progress of Confucian philosophy,
positioning it as one of the ground-breaking works in all Confucian
legacies in East Asia. Originally consisting of forty volumes in
traditional book binding, his Noneo gogeum ju contains one hundred
and seventy-five new interpretations on the Analects, hundreds of
"arguments" about the neo-Confucian commentaries, hundreds of
references to the scholarly works of the Analects, thousands of
supportive quotations from various East Asian classics for the
author's arguments, and hundreds of philological discussions. This
book is an English translation of Noneo gogeum ju with the
translator's comments on the innovative ideas and interpretations
of Dasan on the Analects.
This book examines the influence of Indian socio-political thought,
ideas, and culture on German Romantic nationalism. It suggests
that, contrary to the traditional view that the concepts of
nationalism have moved exclusively from the West to the rest of the
world, in the crucial case of German nationalism, the essential
intellectual underpinnings of the nationalist discourse came to the
West, not from the West. The book demonstrates how the German
Romantic fascination with India resulted in the adoption of Indian
models of identity and otherness and ultimately shaped German
Romantic nationalism. The author illustrates how Indian influence
renovated the scholarly design of German nationalism and, at the
same time, became central to pre-modern and pre-nationalist models
of identity, which later shaped the Aryan myth. Focusing on the
scholarship of Friedrich Schlegel, Otmar Frank, Joseph Goerres, and
Arthur Schopenhauer, the book shows how, in explaining the fact of
the diversity of languages, peoples, and cultures, the German
Romantics reproduced the Indian narrative of the degradation of
some Indo-Aryan clans, which led to their separation from the Aryan
civilization. An important resource for the nexus between Indology
and Orientalism, German Indian Studies and studies of nationalism,
this book will be of interest to researchers working in the fields
of history, European and South Asian area studies, philosophy,
political science, and IR theory.
Incredibly thorough overview of Indian Buddhist philosophy,
organised by thinker to give a comprehensive overview of texts and
themes Very strong team of editors and international line up of
contributors Focus on Indian Buddhist philosophy allows each
thinker to explored in depth, in contrast to competing volumes
An ambitious comparative introduction to Asian thought, expertly
written for undergraduate courses in Asian Studies, Asian
philosophy and neighboring disciplines Recent decades have
witnessed a sharp increase of interest in the cultures and regions
of South and East Asia, owing in part to the prominent role Asian
economies have played in the era of globalization. Asian
Worldviews: Religions, Philosophies, Political Theories is a
unique, reader-friendly introduction to the intellectual heritage
of the region. Assuming no previous background in Asian cultural
history, Asian Worldviews moves beyond chronological and geographic
boundaries to present an integrated treatment of the beliefs,
teachings, and ideologies that have shaped the worldviews of
approximately half of the global population. Rein Raud explores
forms of knowledge in China, India, Tibet, Japan, Korea, and
Southeast Asia, providing balanced coverage of all historical
periods from antiquity to the modern day. Asian Worldviews embraces
the connections rather than the divisions between the religious and
philosophical dimensions of South and East Asian thought, and
emphasizes a robust engagement with each culture's political,
social, and economic contexts. Clear, accessible chapters discuss
the development of religious, philosophical, and political thought
in India, China, and Japan, and provide succinct overviews of the
history of ideas in Korea, Tibet, and Southeast Asia. Throughout
the book, Raud uses a comparative approach to examine the mutual
influence and productive dialogue, past and present, between Asian
cultures as well as with the West, and considers the impact of
various worldviews on the development of modern Asian societies.
Comprehensive and well-informed by recent developments in the
scholarship, Asian Worldviews: Religions, Philosophies, Political
Theories is an unparalleled resource for a broad range of courses
in Asian studies, philosophy, religious studies, and global
politics, as well as an excellent introduction for non-specialist
readers looking for a contextual foothold in the rich cultural and
intellectual history of South and East Asia.
This Key Concepts pivot examines the fundamental Chinese ideas of
'Civilization' and 'culture', considering their extensive influence
both over Chinese society and East Asian societies. The pivot
analyses the traditional connotations of those two concepts and
their evolution in the Sino-Western exchanges as well as their
renewed interpretation and application by contemporary Chinese
scholars. It analyses how the years 1840-1900 which mark a period
of major transition in China challenged these concepts, and
highlights how the pursuit of innovation and international
perspective gave birth to new values and paradigm shifts, and
culminated in the May Fourth New Culture Movement. Considering the
underlying humanistic ideas in the key concepts of traditional
Chinese civilisation and culture, this pivot contributes to this
series of Chinese Key Concept by offering a unique analysis of the
conceptual evolutions brought about by the change of values in 21st
century China.
Swami Vivekananda, the nineteenth-century Hindu monk who introduced
Vedanta to the West, is undoubtedly one of modern India's most
influential philosophers. Unfortunately, his philosophy has too
often been interpreted through reductive hermeneutic lenses.
Typically, scholars have viewed him either as a modern-day exponent
of Sankara's Advaita Vedanta or as a "Neo-Vedantin" influenced more
by Western ideas than indigenous Indian traditions. In Swami
Vivekananda's Vedantic Cosmopolitanism, Swami Medhananda rejects
these prevailing approaches to offer a new interpretation of
Vivekananda's philosophy, highlighting its originality,
contemporary relevance, and cross-cultural significance.
Vivekananda, the book argues, is best understood as a cosmopolitan
Vedantin who developed novel philosophical positions through
creative dialectical engagement with both Indian and Western
thinkers. Inspired by his guru Sri Ramakrishna, Vivekananda
reconceived Advaita Vedanta as a nonsectarian, life-affirming
philosophy that provides an ontological basis for religious
cosmopolitanism and a spiritual ethics of social service. He
defended the scientific credentials of religion while criticizing
the climate of scientism beginning to develop in the late
nineteenth century. He was also one of the first philosophers to
defend the evidential value of supersensuous perception on the
basis of general epistemic principles. Finally, he adopted
innovative cosmopolitan approaches to long-standing philosophical
problems. Bringing him into dialogue with numerous philosophers
past and present, Medhananda demonstrates the sophistication and
enduring value of Vivekananda's views on the limits of reason, the
dynamics of religious faith, and the hard problem of consciousness.
This book presents a systematic unifying-pluralist account-a
"constructive-engagement" account-of how cross-tradition engagement
in philosophy is possible. The goal of this
"constructive-engagement" account is, by way of reflective
criticism, argumentation, and methodological guiding principles, to
inquire into how distinct approaches from different philosophical
traditions can talk to and learn from each other for the sake of
making joint contributions to the contemporary development of
philosophy. In Part I of the book, Bo Mou explores a range of
fundamental theoretic and methodological issues in cross-tradition
philosophical engagement and philosophical interpretation. In Part
II, he analyzes several representative case studies that
demonstrate how relevant resources in the Western and Chinese
philosophical traditions can constructively engage with each other.
These studies cover issues in philosophical methodology,
metaphysics, epistemology, philosophy of language and logic, and
ethics. The book's theoretical and practical approaches expand the
vision, coverage, and agenda of doing philosophy comparatively, and
promote worldwide joint efforts of cross-tradition philosophical
inquiries. Cross-Tradition Engagement in Philosophy will be of
interest to graduate students and scholars interested in
comparative philosophy and the intersection of Chinese and Western
philosophy. It will also appeal to those who are interested in the
ways in which cross-tradition philosophical engagement can enhance
contemporary philosophical debates in metaphysics, epistemology,
philosophy of language and logic, and ethics.
Draws on Tomans Aquinas' theory to interpret Confucian view of
partial relationships. Provides cogent arguments in terms of
familial partiality and egalitarian impartiality. Proposes a binary
metrics to understand the Confucian family-oriented ethics. The
approach to Confucianism in this book is interdisciplinary and
quite new to readers.
This book analyzes the contemporary global revival of Nondual
Saivism, a thousand-year-old medieval Hindu religious philosophy.
Providing a historical overview of the seminal people and groups
responsible for the revival, the book compares the tradition's
medieval Indian origins to modern forms, which are situated within
distinctively contemporary religious, economic and technological
contexts. The author bridges the current gap in the literature
between "insider" (emic) and "outsider" (etic) perspectives by
examining modern Nondual Saivism from multiple standpoints as both
a critical scholar of religion and an empathetic
participant-observer. The book explores modern Nondual Saivism in
relation to recent scholarly debates concerning the legitimacy of
New Age consumptive spirituality, the global spiritual marketplace
and the contemporary culture of narcissism. It also analyzes the
dark side of the revived tradition, and investigates contemporary
teachers accused of sexual abuse and illegal financial activities
in relation to unique features of Nondual Saivism's theosophy and
modern scholarship on new religious movements (NRMs) and cults.
This book shows that, although Kashmir Saivism has been adopted by
certain teachers and groups to market their own brand of "High
Tantra," some contemporary practitioners have remained true to the
system's fundamental tenets and teach authentic (albeit modern)
forms of Nondual Saivism. This book will be of interest to
academics in the fields of religion and Asian philosophies,
especially South Asian, tantric, neo-tantric and yoga philosophies,
alternative and New Age spiritualities, religion and consumerism,
and NRMs and cults. Winner of the inaugural 2021 New Zealand Asia
Society Book Award, second prize.
This volume features new perspectives on the implications of
cross-linguistic and cultural diversity for epistemology. It brings
together philosophers, linguists, and scholars working on knowledge
traditions to advance work in epistemology that moves beyond the
Anglophone sphere. The first group of chapters provide evidence of
cross-linguistic or cultural diversity relevant to epistemology and
discuss its possible implications. These essays defend epistemic
pluralism based on Sanskrit data as a commitment to pluralism about
epistemic stances, analyze the use of two Japanese knowledge verbs
in relation to knowledge how, explore the Confucian notion of
justification, and surveys cultural differences about the
testimonial knowledge. The second group of chapters defends "core
monism"-which claims that despite the cross-linguistic diversity of
knowledge verbs, there is certain core epistemological meaning
shared by all languages-from both a Natural Semantic Metalanguage
(NSM) and skeptical perspective. The third cluster of essays
considers the implications of cultural diversity for epistemology
based on anthropological studies. These chapters explore real
disparities in folk epistemology across cultures. Finally, the last
two chapters discuss methods or perspectives to unify epistemology
despite and based on the diversity of folk intuitions and
epistemological concepts. Ethno-Epistemology is an essential
resource for philosophers working in epistemology and comparative
philosophy, as well as linguists and cultural anthropologists
interested in the cultural-linguistic diversity of knowledge
traditions.
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