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Books > Philosophy > Non-Western philosophy > Oriental & Indian philosophy
A Philosophy of Chinese Architecture: Past, Present, Future
examines the impact of Chinese philosophy on China's historic
structures, as well as on modern Chinese urban aesthetics and
architectural forms. For architecture in China moving forward,
author David Wang posits a theory, the New Virtualism, which links
current trends in computational design with long-standing Chinese
philosophical themes. The book also assesses twentieth-century
Chinese architecture through the lenses of positivism,
consciousness (phenomenology), and linguistics (structuralism and
poststructuralism). Illustrated with over 70 black-and-white
images, this book establishes philosophical baselines for assessing
architectural developments in China, past, present and future.
The transcripts of the three Kyoto School roundtable discussions of
the theme of 'the standpoint of world history and Japan' may now be
judged to form the key source text of responsible Pacific War
revisionism. Published in the pages of Chuo Koron, the influential
magazine of enlightened elite Japanese opinion during the twelve
months after Pearl Harbor, these subversive discussions involved
four of the finest minds of the second generation of the Kyoto
School of philosophy. Tainted by controversy and shrouded in
conspiratorial mystery, these transcripts were never republished in
Japan after the war, and they have never been translated into
English except in selective and often highly biased form. David
Williams has now produced the first objective, balanced and close
interpretative reading of these three discussions in their entirety
since 1943. This version of the wartime Kyoto School transcripts is
neither a translation nor a paraphrase but a fuller rendering in
reader-friendly English that is convincingly faithful to the spirit
of the original texts. The result is a masterpiece of
interpretation and inter-cultural understanding between the
Confucian East and the liberal West. Seventy years after Tojo came
to power, these documents of the Japanese resistance to his wartime
government and policies exercise a unique claim on students of
Japanese history and thought today because of their unrivalled
revelatory potential within the vast literature on the Pacific War.
The Philosophy of Japanese Wartime Resistance may therefore stand
as the most trenchant analysis of the political, philosophic and
legal foundations of the place of the Pacific War in modern
Japanese history yet to appear in any language.
In recent decades there has been a rising interest among scholars
of Hinduism and Judaism in engaging in the comparative studies of
these ancient traditions. Academic interests have also been
inspired by the rise of interreligious dialogue by the respective
religious leaders. Dharma and Halacha: Comparative Studies in
Hindu-Jewish Philosophy and Religion represents a significant
contribution to this emerging field, offering an examination of a
wide range of topics and a rich diversity of perspectives and
methodologies within each tradition, and underscoring significant
affinities in textual practices, ritual purity, sacrifice, ethics
and theology. Dharma refers to a Hindu term indicating law, duty,
religion, morality, justice and order, and the collective body of
Dharma is called Dharma-shastra. Halacha is the Hebrew term
designating the Jewish spiritual path, comprising the collective
body of Jewish religious laws, ethics and rituals. Although there
are strong parallels between Hinduism and Judaism in topics such as
textual practices and mystical experience, the link between these
two religious systems, i.e. Dharma and Halacha, is especially
compelling and provides a framework for the comparative study of
these two traditions. The book begins with an introduction to
Hindu-Jewish comparative studies and recent interreligious
encounters. Part I of the book titled "Ritual and Sacrifice,"
encompasses the themes of sacrifice, holiness, and worship. Part II
titled "Ethics," is devoted to comparing ethical systems in both
traditions, highlighting the manifold ways in which the sacred is
embodied in the mundane. Part III of the book titled "Theology,"
addresses common themes and phenomena in spiritual leadership, as
well as textual metaphors for mystical and visionary experiences in
Hinduism and Judaism. The epilogue offers a retrospective on
Hindu-Jewish encounters, mapping historic as well as contemporary
academic initiatives and collaborations.
This book explores how Confucian thought, which was the ideological
underpinning of traditional, imperial China, is being developed and
refined into a New Confucianism relevant for the twenty-first
century. It traces the development of Confucian thought, examines
significant new texts, and shows how New Confucianism relates to
various spheres of life, how it informs views on key philosophical
issues, and how it affects personal conduct. Starting by exploring
the philosophical and ideological principles of New Confucianism,
the book goes on to explain how New Confucianism is a collective
process of continuous creation and recreation, an incessant and
evolving discourse. It argues that New Confucianism, unlike its
earlier manifestation, is more accommodating of a plurality of
ideologies in the world; and that understanding Confucianism and
how it is developing is essential for understanding contemporary
China.
The tenth or eleventh century group of the Brethren of Purity
(Ikhwan al Safa) are as well known in the Arab world as Darwin,
Marx and Freud in the west. Designed as an introduction to their
ideas, this book concentrates on the Brethren's writings, analyzing
the impact on them of thinkers such as Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle
and the Neoplatonists. Ian Netton traces the influences of Judaism
and Christianity, and controversially this book argues that the
Brethren of Purity did not belong to the Ismaili branch of Islam as
is generally believed.
The popular Hindi film industry is the largest in India and the
most conspicuous film industry in the non-Western world. This book
analyses the pivotal visual and narrative conventions employed in
popular Hindi films through the combined prism of film studies and
classical Indian philosophy and ritualism. The book shows the films
outside Western paradigms, as visual manifestations and outcomes of
the evolution of classical Hindu notions and esthetic forms. These
include notions associated with the Advaita-Vedanta philosophical
school and early Buddhist thought, concepts and dynamism stemming
from Hindu ritualism, rasa esthetic theories, as well as Brahmanic
notions such as dharma (religion, law, order), and moksa
(liberation). These are all highly abstract notions which the
author defines as "the unseen": a cluster of diversified concepts
denoting what subsists beyond the phenomenal, what prevails beyond
the empirical world of samsara and stands out of this world
(alaukika), while simultaneously being embodied and transformed
within visual filmic imagery, codes and semiotics that are teased
out and analyzed. A culturally sensitive reading of popular Hindi
films, the interpretations put forward are also applicable to the
Western context. They enable a fuller understanding of religious
phenomena outside the primary religious field, within the
vernacular arenas of popular culture and mass communication. The
book is of interest to scholars in the fields of Indology, modern
Indian studies, film, media and cultural studies.
Merleau-Ponty and Buddhism explores a new mode of philosophizing
through a comparative study of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's
phenomenology and philosophies of major Buddhist thinkers such as
Nagarjuna, Chinul, Dogen, Shinran, and Nishida Kitaro. Challenging
the dualistic paradigm of existing philosophical traditions,
Merleau-Ponty proposes a philosophy in which the traditional
opposites are encountered through mutual penetration. Likewise, a
Buddhist worldview is articulated in the theory of dependent
co-arising, or the middle path, which comprehends the world and
beings in the third space, where the subject and the object, or
eternalism and annihilation, exist independent of one another. The
thirteen essays in this volume explore this third space in their
discussions of Merleau-Ponty's concepts of the intentional arc, the
flesh of the world, and the chiasm of visibility in connection with
the Buddhist doctrine of no-self and the five aggregates, the
Tiantai Buddhist concept of threefold truth, Zen Buddhist huatou
meditation, the invocation of the Amida Buddha in True Pure Land
Buddhism, and Nishida's concept of basho.
This book presents a detailed fieldwork-based study of the ancient Indian religion of Jainism. Drawing on field research in northern Gujarat and on the study of both ancient Sanskrit and Prakrit and modern vernacular Jain religious literature, John Cort provides a rounded portrait of the religion as it is practised today.
A Japanese-inspired guide to living a happier, more fulfilled life.
Japonisme explores the Japanese art of finding contentment and
includes practical tips and tricks to live a happier, healthier,
more thoughtful life. What is your ikigai (purpose)? How do you
practice mindfulness in the unpredictability and chaos of everyday
life? From shinrinyoku (forest bathing), calligraphy, ikebana (fl
ower arranging) to tea ceremonies and their approach to food, the
Japanese have found contentment through traditions,philosophies,
and the practice of art. This book shows how we can all incorporate
aspects of Japonisme into our daily lives. Enhance your lifestyle
and enrich your mind by looking at life through the lens of
wabi-sabi (the transient nature of life), kintsugi (repairing
broken ceramics with gold) or kaizen (habit-forming techniques), in
an accessible, practical way.
Islamic philosophy has often been treated as being largely of
historical interest, belonging to the history of ideas rather than
to philosophical study. This volume successfully overturns that
view. Emphasizing the living nature and rich diversity of the
subject, it examines the main thinkers and schools of thought,
discusses the key concepts of Islamic philosophy and covers a vast
geographical area. This indispensable reference tool includes a
comprehensive bibliography and an extensive index.
Mahatma K. Gandhi's dedication to finding a path of liberation from
an epidemic of violence has been well documented before. The
central issue and the novelty of this book is its focus on what
Gandhi wanted to liberate us for. The book also provides an
assessment of how viable his positive vision of humanity is. Gandhi
revolutionized the struggle for Indian liberation from Great
Britain by convincing his countrymen that they must turn to
nonviolence and that India needed to be liberated from its social
ills-poverty, unemployment, opium addiction, institution of child
marriage, inequality of women, and Hindu-Muslim frictions-even more
than it needed political freedom. Although Gandhi's legacy has not
been forgotten, it has often been distorted. He is called "Mahatma"
and venerated as a saint, but not followed and often
misinterpreted. Predrag Cicovacki attempts to de-mythologize Gandhi
and take a closer look at his thoughts, aims, and struggles. He
invites us to look at the footprints Gandhi left for us, and follow
them as carefully and critically as possible. Cicovacki concludes
that Gandhi's spiritual vision of humanity and the importance of
adherence to truth (satyagraha)are his lasting legacy.
This Key Concepts pivot considers the fundamental Chinese cultural
ideal of harmony (he/ ). Historically originating from
Confucianism, the concept of harmony sits at the heart of Chinese
traditional culture, which is characteristically morality-based and
harmony-conscious due to the central role of pragmatic reason and
wisdom nurtured through Confucianism, Daoism, Mohism, Legalism and
other schools of thought. This pivot delineates the rationale of
the Chinese philosophy of harmony and its implications for modern
social practices worldwide. It notably reexamines the relevance of
he beyond the realm of philosophy, and how this concept can impact
on modern day human relations, amongst individuals and families as
well as on a wider societal scale. It explores how he can affect
perspectives on political interaction, international relations and
human conflict, as well as the interaction between man and nature.
Addressing the inevitable tension between theory and practice, this
book argues for the very real relevance of he in 21st century
cultural, social, political and economic spheres in China and
beyond.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is Nietzsche's most problematic text. There
appears to be no thematic connection between its four Parts and
numerous sections. To make it even worse, the book contains a
number of thematic contradictions. The standard approach has been a
method of selective reading, that is, most critics select a few
brilliant passages for edification and ignore the rest. This
approach has turned Nietzsche's text into a collection of
disjointed fragments. Going against this prevalent approach, T.K.
Seung presents the first unified reading of the whole book. He
reads it as the record of Zarathustra's epic journey to find
spiritual values in the secular world. The alleged thematic
contradictions of the text are shown to indicate the turns and
twists that are dictated by the hero's epic battle against his
formidable opponent. His heroic struggle is eventually resolved by
the power of a pantheistic nature-religion. Thus Nietzsche's
ostensibly atheistic work turns out to be a highly religious text.
The author uncovers this epic plot by reading Nietzsche's text as a
baffling series of riddles and puzzles. Hence his reading is not
only edifying but also breathtaking. In this unprecedented
enterprise, the author takes a complex interdisciplinary approach,
engaging the five disciplines of philosophy, psychology, religious
studies, literary analysis, and cultural history.
This is a book about the body and its amazing contribution to the
moral mind. The author focuses on the important roles the body
plays in moral cognition. What happens to us when we observe moral
violations, make moral judgments and engage in moral actions? How
does the body affect our moral decisions and shape our moral
dispositions? Can embodied moral psychology be consistently pursued
as a viable alternative to disembodied traditions of moral
philosophy? Is there any school of philosophy where the body is
discussed as the underlying foundation of moral judgment and
action? To answer these questions, the author analyzes Confucian
philosophy as an intriguing and insightful example of embodied
moral psychology.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is Nietzsche's most problematic text. There
appears to be no thematic connection between its four Parts and
numerous sections. To make it even worse, the book contains a
number of thematic contradictions. The standard approach has been a
method of selective reading, that is, most critics select a few
brilliant passages for edification and ignore the rest. This
approach has turned Nietzsche's text into a collection of
disjointed fragments. Going against this prevalent approach, T.K.
Seung presents the first unified reading of the whole book. He
reads it as the record of Zarathustra's epic journey to find
spiritual values in the secular world. The alleged thematic
contradictions of the text are shown to indicate the turns and
twists that are dictated by the hero's epic battle against his
formidable opponent. His heroic struggle is eventually resolved by
the power of a pantheistic nature-religion. Thus Nietzsche's
ostensibly atheistic work turns out to be a highly religious text.
The author uncovers this epic plot by reading Nietzsche's text as a
baffling series of riddles and puzzles. Hence his reading is not
only edifying but also breathtaking. In this unprecedented
enterprise, the author takes a complex interdisciplinary approach,
engaging the five disciplines of philosophy, psychology, religious
studies, literary analysis, and cultural history.
In this comprehensive textbook, renowned philosopher J. N. Mohanty
examines the range of Indian philosophy from the Sutra period
through the 17th century Navya Nyaya. Classical Indian Philosophy
is divided into three parts that cover epistemology, metaphysics,
and the attempt to transcend the distinction between subject and
object. Instead of concentrating on the different systems, Mohanty
focuses on the major concepts and problems dealt with in Indian
philosophy. The book includes discussions of Indian ethics and
social philosophy, as well as of Indian law and aesthetics.
Classical Indian Philosophy is essential reading for students of
Indian philosophy at every level.
This book is about Tangut translations of Chinese literary texts.
Although most of the extant Tangut material comprises Buddhist
texts, there are also many non-religious texts, which are mostly
translations from Chinese. The central concern is how the Tanguts
appropriated Chinese written culture through translation and what
their reasons for this were. Of the seven chapters, the first three
provide background information on the discovery of Tangut material,
the emergence of the field of Tangut studies, and the history of
the Tangut state. The following four chapters are devoted to
different aspects of Tangut written culture and its connection with
the Chinese tradition. The themes discussed here are the use of
Chinese primers in Tangut education; the co-existence of manuscript
and print; the question how faithful Tangut translators remained to
the original texts or whether they at times adapted those to the
needs of Tangut readership; the degree of translation consistency
and the preservation of the intertextual elements of the original
works. The book also intends to draw attention to the significant
body of Chinese literature that exists in Tangut translation,
especially since the originals of some of these texts are now lost.
Early Confucian philosophers (notably Confucius and Mencius)
emphasized moral significance of shame in self-cultivation and
learning. In their discussion, shame is not just a painful sense of
moral failure or transgression but also a moral disposition and a
form of moral excellence (i.e., virtue) that is essential to
Confucian self-cultivation. In Moral Psychology of Confucian Shame,
Bongrae Seok argues that shame is a genuine moral emotion and moral
disposition. Engaging with recent studies of social psychology,
cultural psychology, biology, and anthropology, Seok explains that
shame is a uniquely evolved form of moral emotion that is
comparable to, but not identical with, guilt. The author goes on to
develop an interpretation of Confucian shame that reveals the
embodied, interactive, and transformative nature of the Confucian
moral self.
'Reason and imagination and all mental chatter died down... I
forgot my name, my humanness, my thingness, all that could be
called me or mine. Past and future dropped away... Lighter than
air, clearer than glass, altogether released from myself, I was
nowhere around.' Thus Douglas Harding describes his first
experience of headlessness, or no self. First published in 1961,
this is a classic work which conveys the experience that mystics of
all times have tried to put words to.
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