Philosophy challenges our assumptions—especially when it comes to
us from another culture. In exploring Japanese philosophy, a
dependable guide is essential. The present volume, written by a
renowned authority on the subject, offers readers a historical
survey of Japanese thought that is both comprehensive and
comprehensible. Adhering to the Japanese philosophical tradition of
highlighting engagement over detachment, Thomas Kasulis invites us
to think with, as well as about, the Japanese masters by offering
ample examples, innovative analogies, thought experiments, and
jargon-free explanations. He assumes little previous knowledge and
addresses themes—aesthetics, ethics, the samurai code, politics,
among others—not in a vacuum but within the conditions of
Japan’s cultural and intellectual history. For readers new to
Japanese studies, he provides a simplified guide to pronouncing
Japanese and a separate discussion of the language and how its
syntax, orthography, and linguistic layers can serve the
philosophical purposes of a skilled writer and subtle thinker. For
those familiar with the Japanese cultural tradition but less so
with philosophy, Kasulis clarifies philosophical expressions and
problems, Western as well as Japanese, as they arise. Half of the
book’s chapters are devoted to seven major thinkers who
collectively represent the full range of Japan’s historical
epochs and philosophical traditions: Kukai, Shinran, Dogen, Ogyu
Sorai, Motoori Norinaga, Nishida Kitaro, and Watsuji Tetsuro.
Nuanced details and analyses enable an engaged understanding of
Japanese Buddhism, Confucianism, Shinto, and modern academic
philosophy. Other chapters supply social and cultural background,
including brief discussions of nearly a hundred other philosophical
writers. (For additional information, cross references to material
in the companion volume Japanese Philosophy: A Sourcebook are
included.) In his closing chapter Kasulis reflects on lessons from
Japanese philosophy that enhance our understanding of philosophy
itself. He reminds us that philosophy in its original sense means
loving wisdom, not studying ideas. In that regard, a renewed
appreciation of engaged knowing can play a critical role in the
revitalization of philosophy in the West as well as the East.
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