This volume presents ten leading scholars' writings on contemporary Islamic law and Muslim thought. The essays examine a range of issues, from modern Muslim discourses on justice, natural law, and the common good, to democracy, the social contract, and "the authority of the preeminent jurist." Changes in how Shari'a has been understood over the centuries are explored, as well as how it has been applied in both Sunni and Shi'i Islam.
Debates on the nature, interpretation, reform, and application of Shari'a lie at the core of all Islamist revivalist ideologies and movements of the past two centuries. The demand for the implementation of Shari'a is one of the hallmarks of Islamic fundamentalism, and Shari'a has become one of the most controversial and politicized concepts in Muslim-majority countries today. This will be one of the first books to examine how Muslims understand and apply Shari'a in contemporary societies.

This important new book identifies the distinctive characteristics of the ideological terrain in contemporary (South) Korean politics and reexamines the political thought of Park Chung-hee (1917-1979), the most revered, albeit the most controversial, former president in the history of South Korea, in light of those characteristics. Jung In Kang articulates "simultaneity of the nonsimultaneous" and the "sanctification of nationalism" as the most preeminent characteristics of the Korean ideological topography, which are distinct from those of modern Western Europe, while acknowledging the overwhelming and informing influence of modern Western civilization in shaping contemporary Korean politics and ideologies. He goes on to analyze the political thought of Park Chung-hee, in this way investigating and confirming the academic validity and relevance of those ideological characteristics in more specific terms. The book assesses how nonsimultaneity and sanctification are interwoven with Park's thought, while reconstructing the political thought of President Park in terms of four modern ideologies: liberalism (liberal democracy), conservatism, nationalism and radicalism. Kang concludes by tracing the changes undergone by simultaneity and sanctification in the three decades since democratization, with some speculation on their future, and by examining the ideological legacy and ramifications of Park Chung-hee's authoritarian politics in the twenty-first century.

This volume details the Yew Chung Approach and the Twelve Values that exemplify the approach as a unique contribution to the field of early childhood education. The Yew Chung Education Foundation (YCEF) in Hong Kong is a nonprofit organization and a high-quality early childhood program that promotes a global lens and multilingualism through an emergent curriculum. This book explores the Twelve Values that exemplify the approach, including relationships, the emergent curriculum, inquiry-based pedagogy, and the multilingual and multicultural approach. Grounding these values in daily classroom practice and the broader sociocultural context of Hong Kong, it shows how the Yew Chung Approach effectively supports additional language learning through a progressive emergent curriculum with a high degree of child agency. It also explores the unique history of Hong Kong as an incubator and setting for the Yew Chung Approach and considers the relationships between the colonial history of the city, Hong Kong's current status as a global city, and the mission of Yew Chung to provide children with a global lens. An important study which exemplifies and investigates a unique program and perspective within the field, this book will benefit scholarly and practitioner audiences within the global early childhood community, as well as appealing to academics, researchers and postgraduates working within early childhood education, comparative education, and bilingual education.

Reviews the trajectory of Marxism Localization in modern and contemporary China Reveals the historical, political, cultural and social context of the localization of Marxism Offers an outlook of the localization of Marxism in China

George Anastaplo has written brilliantly and persuasively about ancient and modern Western political philosophy and literature and about American Constitutional history and law. With his latest book Anastaplo turns away from his areas of admitted expertise to offer, in his own words, "the explorations of a determined amateur with some practice in reading." The essays contained in this volume were originally conceived as a set of seminars, each culminating in a public lecture, which in turn formed the basis for contributions to Encyclopedia Brittanica's 1961-1998 series The Great Ideas Today. Gathered in this one volume, But Not Philosophy provides useful and thought-provoking introductions to seven major "schools" of non-Western thought: Mesopotamian, ancient African, Hindu, Confucian, Buddhist, Islamic, and North American Indian. Anastaplo studies ancient literary epics and legal codes and examines religious traditions and systems of thought, providing detailed references to authoritative histories and commentators. Movingly and thoughtfully written, the essays encourage readers to bring their own Western traditions under similar scrutiny, to study our own grasp of the divine, reliance upon nature and causality, and dependence on philosophy-to learn about what we are from what we are not.

Another Phenomenology of Humanity: A Reading of A Dream of Red Mansions is devoted to developing another version of phenomenology of humanity-human nature, human dispositions and human desires-by taking A Dream of Red Mansions, the crown jewel of Chinese culture, as its main literary paradigm of illustration. The version of phenomenology of humanity at issue is a synthesis of the Confucian, Daoist, Buddhist and Western existentialist phenomenological accounts of humanity-for example, what is humanity, what make humans as human, human nature, human feelings, human desires, three core human existential interests, and four basic problems of human existence.

This book makes a strong case for free schooling, comparing the mind of Albert Einstein -- who said much -- to Zen conscious practice, which says little but encompasses everything. Examining the work of brain researchers, neuroscientists, physicists, and other scholars to illuminate the commonalities between Einstein's thought and the Zen practice of paying attention to one's present experience, the book reveals their many similarities, showing the development of self-direction as a key to fostering compassionate consideration of others and to harmonious, semi-effortless learning and living. Examples demonstrate that students who choose to study what is interesting, remarkable, and important for them tend to become more like Einstein than students with the rigid school curricula; students who are free to learn often demonstrate empathy, and less rigid rule-following, while involved in the process of imaginatively becoming their own oracles and self-educators.

The dominant issues in African political thought from the 1960s onward have been development and socialism. In the present decade new issues have arisen such as democracy, civil society, the nation-state, and the relevance of traditional political institutions. Typically, however, these new issues have been discussed in models of thought which already served in the 1960s or even before. Boele van Hensbroek aims to provide the necessary insight into the history of African political thought as well as an analytical framework to clarify contemporary African discourses on democracy.

He proceeds in three steps. First, the most important discussions in the last 150 years are presented. A fascinating history emerges, from the great 19th century theorists such as Edward Blyden and Africanus Horton to prominent nationalists such as Kwame Nkrumah and Amilcar Cabral, and to contemporary African intellectuals. Second, the African history of ideas shows that particular models of thought recur which can be reconstructed as three consistent models of thought. Finally, the relevance of the history of ideas and philosophical analysis of models of thought can be shown by providing a new perspective on contemporary debates on democracy in Africa.

This volume explores the deeply interwoven connection of education, art and nature in the context of East Asia. With contributions from authors in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, the book considers unnoticed but significant themes involved in the interplay of nature, art, and education. It manifests how nature and art can educate, and how education and nature play the role of art. The chapters explore a range of themes relevant to East Asian characteristics, including skill acquisition, Japanese calendar arts and ritual of feelings, garden architecture, the ritualised body, collaborative poetry art, translational language between humans and nature, the Confucian classical Six Arts, the artistic embodiment of the Kyoto School, and the heritage art based education in Korea. The authors examine these themes in novel ways to bring to light the relevance of the East Asian insights to the contemporary global world. This book is an outstanding resource to all researchers, scholars, and students interested in educational aesthetics, philosophy of education, East Asian studies, comparative education and intercultural education.

Tiantai Buddhism emerged from an idiosyncratic and innovative interpretation of the Lotus Sutra to become one of the most complete, systematic, and influential schools of philosophical thought developed in East Asia. Brook A. Ziporyn puts Tiantai into dialogue with modern philosophical concerns to draw out its implications for ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. Ziporyn explains Tiantai's unlikely roots, its positions of extreme affirmation and rejection, its religious skepticism and embrace of religious myth, and its view of human consciousness. Ziporyn reveals the profound insights of Tiantai Buddhism while stimulating philosophical reflection on its unexpected effects.

A stimulating account of the wide range of approaches towards conceptualising emotions in classical Indian philosophical-religious traditions, such as those of the Upanishads, Vaishnava Tantrism, Bhakti movement, Jainism, Buddhism, Yoga, Shaivism, and aesthetics, this volume analyses the definition and validity of emotions in the construction of identity and self-discovery.

Beyond Actions is a new breed of book on action research, going beyond procedural descriptions of action research and discusses psychological processes and epistemological challenges involved in planning and conducting action research. The book discusses in depth key concepts of action research and the ways in which these concepts actually contribute to the improvement of educational practice by assuming the viewpoint of educators. Dr. Inoue offers ample opportunities for readers to deeply reflect on personal, social, cultural, and philosophical foundations of practice improvement efforts and develop a comprehensive understanding of action research. Beyond Actions is targeted to educators, educational researchers, principals, and students taking graduate-level courses in action research, educational research methods, educational psychology, education foundations, educational leadership, and other related fields as well as anyone seeking a new methodology for mindful educational improvement.

Exploring the subject of Jewish philosophy as a controversial construction site of the project of modernity, this book examines the implications of the different and often conflicting notions that drive the debate on the question of what Jewish philosophy is or could be. The idea of Jewish philosophy begs the question of philosophy as such. But "Jewish philosophy" does not just reflect what "philosophy" lacks. Rather, it challenges the project of philosophy itself. Examining the thought of Spinoza, Moses Mendelssohn, Heinrich Heine, Hermann Cohen Franz Rosenzweig, Martin Buber, Margarete Susman, Hermann Levin Goldschmidt, and others, the book highlights how the most philosophic moments of their works are those in which specific concerns of their "Jewish questions" inform the rethinking of philosophy's disciplinarity in principal terms. The long overdue recognition of the modernity that informs the critical trajectories of Jewish philosophers from Spinoza and Mendelssohn to the present emancipates not just "Jewish philosophy" from an infelicitous pigeonhole these philosophers so pointedly sought to reject but, more important, emancipates philosophy from its false claims to universalism.

A treat for the mind, body and spirit! Step inside the pages of this book to discover a world of tranquility and calm. You will be guided on an internal journey to quieten the mind, release tension, and create peace and well-being. This book is an ideal resource for yoga teachers and health professionals, but also anyone who wants to enjoy the benefits of deep relaxation - particularly those in stressful professions and work environments. It includes: over 30 guided relaxation scripts; an easy to follow guide to conscious relaxation; soothing breathing techniques; and a clear explanation of the benefits you'll experience. Integrating ideas from wisdom traditions such as yoga, Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine with contemporary thinking, the author's depth of knowledge and experience shine through the pages, yet the tone is always friendly and accessible. A powerful tool to manage stress or mild anxiety and depression, dive in to start looking after yourself now. "Katie Brown's book, Guided Relaxation, not only teaches us how to relax, it also shows us how in clear, friendly, and accessible words and illustrations. An essential book in the modern world. It will uplift your spirits and take you home to a sense of ease and rest." Judith Hanson Lasater, Ph.D, PT, yoga teacher since 1971, and the author of 11 books on yoga.

In Mysticism and Morality author Richard Jones explores an often neglected question of religious ethics: Is mysticism moral? Through a discussion of several religious traditions including Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Tantrism, Daoism, and Christianity Jones fills a major void in the scholarly literature by considering all relevant points pertaining to mysticism. Rather than looking at mysticism abstractly, the book focuses on such topics as ritual, practice, and the processes of mystical becoming. This work provides new perspectives for those interested in ethics and will prove essential to anyone interested in comparative philosophy and cross-cultural studies of religion."

This book brings together the political thought of Gandhi and Tagore to examine the relationship between politics, truth and conscience. It explores truth and conscience as viable public virtues with regard to two exemplars of ethical politics, addressing in turn the concerns of an evolving modern Indian political community. The comprehensive and textually argued discussion frames the subject of the validity of ethical politics in inhospitable contexts such as the fanatically despotic state and energised nationalism. The book studies in nuanced detail Tagore's opposition to political violence in colonial Bengal, the scope of non-violence and satyagraha as recommended by Gandhi to Jews in Nazi Germany, his response to the complexity of protest against the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and the differently constituted nationalism of Gandhi and Tagore. It presents their famous debate in a new light, embedded within the dynamics of cultural identification, political praxis and the capacity of a community to imbibe the principles of ethical politics. Comprehensive and perceptive in analysis, this book will be a valuable addition for scholars and researchers of political science with specialisation in Indian political thought, philosophy and history. Gangeya Mukherji is Reader in English at Mahamati Prannath Mahavidyalaya, Mau-Chitrakoot, Uttar Pradesh, India.

This book explains a distinctive pluralist account of truth, jointly-rooted perspectivism ('JRP' for short). This explanation unifies various representative while philosophically interesting truth-concern approaches in early Chinese philosophy on the basis of people's pre-theoretic "way-things-are-capturing" understanding of truth. It explains how JRP provides effective interpretative resources to identify and explain one unifying line that runs through those distinct truth-concern approaches and how they can thus talk with and complement each other and contribute to the contemporary study of the issue of truth. In so doing, the book also engages with some distinct treatments in the modern study of Chinese philosophy. Through testing its explanatory power in effectively interpreting those representative truth-concern approaches in the Yi-Jing philosophy, Gongsun Long's philosophy, Later Mohist philosophy, classical Confucianism and classical Daoism, JRP is also further justified and strengthened. Mou defends JRP as an original unifying pluralist account in the context of cross-tradition philosophical engagement, which can also effectively engage with other accounts of truth (including other types of pluralist accounts) in contemporary philosophy. The purpose of this book is dual: (1) it is to enhance our understanding and treatment of the truth concern as one strategic foundation of various movements of thought in classical Chinese philosophy that are intended to capture "how things are"; (2) on the other hand, it is to explore how the relevant resources in Chinese philosophy can contribute to the contemporary exploration of the philosophical issue of truth in philosophically interesting and engaging way.

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Philosophy of Language presents a systematic survey of philosophy of language in the Indian tradition, providing an up-to-date research resource for better understanding the history and future direction of the field. Each chapter addresses a particular philosophical problem from the viewpoint of seminal traditions and specific thinkers. Covering the philosophical insight on language found in the mainstream philosophies of Vyakarana, Mima?sa, Nyaya, Vedanta, Buddhism, and Alankarasastra, the chapters tackle crucial semantic and pragmatic questions such as the relation of the speaker to reality, the use of metalanguage, the distinction between sentences, elliptic statements, and figurative usages, and the impact of textual structures on the philosophical message. Complete with further reading suggestions and an annotated bibliography, this collection makes an important contribution to both Eastern and Western contemporary philosophy of language.

This book offers a social-scientific interpretation of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions of Tantra dating back 15 centuries. It is a self-reflexive study approached with an insider's empathy and the perspective of an Indologist, anthropologist, mystic and practitioner of the cult. The work includes a discussion of non-modern Indic themes: mandala as a trope and its manifestations in South Asian regions such as Nepal; yoga and Indic individuality; the concept of bhoga; disciplined wellbeing; gender; and Indic axiology. Using personal praxis to inform his research, the author examines three core themes within Tantra - a 'holonic'/mandalic individuality that conduces to mystical experience; a positive valorisation of pleasure and play; and cultural attitudes of gender-mutuality and complementarity, as neatly encapsulated in the icon of Shiva as Ardhanariswara. This analysis, as captured by the Tantric mandalas of deities in intimate union, leads to his compelling metathesis that Tantra serves as a permanent counterculture within the Indic civilization. This second edition, with a new Afterword, will greatly interest those in anthropology, South Asian studies, religious studies, gender studies, psychology and philosophy, as also the general reader.

The Upanisads are among the most sacred foundational scriptures in the Hindu religion. Composed from 800 BCE onwards and making up part of the larger Vedic corpus, they offer the reader "knowledge lessons" on life, death, and immortality. While they are essential to understanding Hinduism and Asian religions more generally, their complexities make them almost impenetrable to anyone but serious scholars of Sanskrit and ancient Indian culture. This book is divided into five parts: Composition, authorship, and transmission of the Upanisads; The historical, cultural, and religious background of the Upanisads; Religion and philosophy in the Upanisads; The classical Upanisads; The later Upanisads. The chapters cover critical issues such as the origins of the Upanisads, authorship, and redaction, as well as exploring the broad religious and philosophical themes within the texts. The guide analyzes each of the Upanisads separately, unpacking their contextual relevance and explaining difficult terms and concepts. The Upanisads: A Complete Guide is a unique and valuable reference source for undergraduate religious studies, history, and philosophy students and researchers who want to learn more about these foundational sacred texts and the religious lessons in the Hindu tradition.

Recognized as one of the greatest philosophers in classical China, Chu Hsi (1130-1200) is especially known in the West through translations of one of his many works, theChin-su Lu. Julia Ching, a noted scholar of Neo-Confucian thought, provides the first book-length examination of Chu-Hsi's religious thought, based on extensive reading in both primary and secondary sources.