Modernism and the Museum proposes an entirely new way of looking at the evolution of Modernist art and literature in the West. It shows that existing surveys of Modernism tend to treat the early stages of the movement as a purely European phenomenon, and fail to take account of the powerful and direct influence of Asia, Africa, and the Pacific islands operating via museums and exhibitions, particularly in London. The book presents the poet Ezra Pound and the sculptor Jacob Epstein (...) as two seminal figures whose development of a Modernist aesthetic depended almost entirely on innovations adapted from extra-European visual art, and makes similar revelations about the work of related figures such as Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Eric Gill, T.E. Hulme, Laurence Binyon, Richard Aldington, Amy Lowell, Charles Holden, William Rothenstein, Ford Madox Ford, James Gould Fletcher, James Havard Thomas, W.B. Yeats, and D.H. Lawrence. The writing is engaging, but the scholarship is rigorous, and a large quantity of previously unpublished evidence is made available from the British Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Royal Institute of British architects, the Tate Gallery, and several private collections. The book positions the museums of London - and especially the British Museum - as the West's most significant hub of transcultural aesthetic exchange during the early Twentieth century. It essentially proposes that, far from representing a development rooted in provincial European culture, Modernism was in fact the result of an unprecedented willingness in the avant-garde of the West to engage with the rest of the world. (shrink)
With a focus on the question of visuality in Heidegger's sustained involvement with Daoist and Zen thought, this paper discusses the interchange between Heidegger and Hisamatsu at a 1958 colloquium. In light of the key concerns – visuality, art, and the empty origin of manifestation – it interrogates three texts,The Origin of the Work of Art,Parmenides, andArt and Space,concerning visuality, the play of the glance, writing, space and place, and the Graeco-Asian though of phainesthai. In conclusion, it addresses (...) the opening for a philosophical consideration of abstract painting that these analyses provide. (shrink)
The first major study since the 1930s of the relationship between American Transcendentalism and Asian religions, and the first comprehensive work to include post-Civil War Transcendentalists like Samuel Johnson, this book is encyclopedic in scope. Beginning with the inception of Transcendentalist Orientalism in Europe, Versluis covers the entire history of American Transcendentalism into the twentieth century, and the profound influence of Orientalism on the movement--including its analogues and influences in world religious dialogue. He examines what he calls "positive Orientalism," (...) which recognizes the value and perennial truths in Asian religions and cultures, not only in the writings of major figures like Thoreau and Emerson, but also in contemporary popular magazines. Versluis's exploration of the impact of Transcendentalism on the twentieth-century study of comparative religions has ramifications for the study of religious history, comparative religion, literature, politics, history, and art history. (shrink)
Machine generated contents note: INTRODUCTION 1 -- Focus of the Sections and Sub-sections 1 -- East Asian Internet Resources 1 -- A Note on Using the Index 2 -- GENERAL WORKS ON PHILOSOPHY& RELIGION IN ASIA 5 -- BUDDHISM 37 -- Primary Sources 37 -- Buddhist Ethics 38 -- Buddhism and Judeo-Christianity 52 -- Zen Buddhism 69 -- Other Works on Buddhism 76 -- CONFUCIANISM 95 -- Chinese and Confucian Classics 95 -- Translations of the Four Books 95 -- (...) Translations of other Chinese Classics 97 -- Secondary Works on Confucianism and/or the Chinese Classics --00 -- Neo-Confucianism 136 -- Confucian Ethics 150 -- Works on Confucianism and Judeo-Christianity 172 -- TAOISM 191 -- Primary Sources in Translation 191 -- Secondary Works on Chuang-tzu, Lao-tse and/or Taoism192 -- Taoism and Judaeo-Christianity 205 -- CHINESE/ CONFUCIAN UNDERSTANDING OF RELIGION 209 -- BUSINESS & ECONOMIC ETHICS IN ASIA 223 -- General, Miscellaneous, and/or Background Material 223 -- Business & Economic Ethics: China 225 -- Business & Economic Ethics: Japan 226 -- Business & Economic Ethics: Korea 228 -- HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE EAST ASIAN CONTEXT 231 -- ASIAN WOMEN'S PHILOSOPHY &THEOLOGY 247 SELECTED COUNTRIES OF EAST ASIA 2. -- CHINA2 -- China and Christianity2 -- Jesuit Approach to Evangelization in China2( -- Other Works on China and Roman Catholicism2 -- China and Protestantism2 -- Other Works on China and Christianity28 -- Other Works on Chinese Culture and Philosophy 29 -- JA PA N 32 -- Buddhism in Japan32 -- Shintoism and Confucianism in Japan 33 -- Christianity in Japan33, -- Other Works on Japanese Culture, Philosophy and Religion34' -- KOREA35! -- Buddhism in Korea 35! -- Christianity in Korea 36' -- Confucianism and Christianity in Korea 36: -- General Works on Christianity in Korea 36E -- Korea and Catholicism 38C -- Korean-American Christianity 390 -- Confucianism in Korea 394 -- M injung Theology 404 -- Women's Issues and Feminist Theology in Korea 423 -- Shamanism in Korea 432 -- Other Works on Korea, Including General Works on Religion --437 -- EAST ASIAN INTERNET RESOURCES 455 -- SUBJECT-AREA WEB-SITES 455 -- MISCELLANEOUS PHILOSOPHICAL/RELIGIOUS -- STUDIES SITES456 -- EAST ASIAN ART, GEOGRAPHY, HISTORY, AND/OR -- CULTURE SITES 466 -- OTHER ASIAN INTEREST WEB-SITES 471 -- CHINA471 -- JAPAN 480 -- KOREA 481 -- SINGAPORE 486 -- DISCUSSIONAND/OR NEWS GROUPS 486 -- ONLINE (ELECTRONIC) JOURNALS AND NEWSLETTERS488 -- EAST ASIAN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS 494 -- LIBRARIES AND/OR UNIVERSITY WEB-PAGES496 -- SEARCH ENGINES 501 -- INDEX 503. (shrink)
The French nineteenth century artists Henry Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) is known for his distinctive style and bold character portraits of the theatrical scene of the gaslight era in Paris. The paper examines some of the formative influences of eighteenth century Japanese art on the development of visual characters, with specific focus on a lithograph entitled Divan Japonais. Alluding to the refined representation of Japanese courtesans, subtle nuanced reminiscences to an ideal of elegance create an allusion to highly respected courtesans in the (...) Japanese ‘Green Houses’ of the Asian Yoshiwara the famous “Good Luck Meadow” in Edo, present day Tokyo. I argue that Lautrec draws on techniques in Asian art, effectively creating a visual language that suggests a carefully crafted reevaluation of values. Lautrec’s visual language promotes sensibilities characteristic for a Japanese aesthetic and lifestyle that are also intrinsic to a traditional cultivation of moral virtues in Asia. The argument will be developed in conjunction with an analysis of diverse forms of visual language apparent in two works of Lautrec, a print by the Japanese artist Kitagawa Utamoro (1753-1806), and a photo of the dancer Jane Avril (1868—1943). (shrink)
Where Western philosophy ends, with the limits of language, marks the beginning of Eastern philosophy. The Tao de jing of Laozi begins with the limitations of language and then proceeds from that as a starting point. On the other hand, the limitation of language marks the end of Wittgenstein's cogitations. In contrast to Wittgenstein, who thought that one should remain silent about that which cannot be put into words, the message of the Zhuangzi is that one can speak about that (...) which cannot put into words but the speech will be strange and indirect. Through the focus on the monstrous character, No-Lips in the Zhuangzi, this paper argues that a key message of the Zhuangzi is that the art of transcending language in the Zhuangzi is through the use of crippled speech. The metaphor of crippled speech, speech which is actually unheard, illustrates that philosophical truths cannot be put into words but can be indirectly signified through the art of stretching language beyond its normal contours. This allows Eastern philosophy, through the philosophy of the Zhuangzi to transcend the limits of language. (shrink)
Chinese philosophy views experience as intrinsically aesthetic. This world view could be elucidated through a consideration of John Dewey's aesthetics and features of Chinese art. Dewey's philosophy of art starts with an understanding of experience as 'live processes' of living creatures interacting with their environment. Such processes are autopoietic in being self-sustaining, ever-changing, capable of increasing complexity, capable of generating novelty, direction and progress on its own. Its autopoietic character is a precondition of the aesthetic in the process of experience. (...) An aesthetic experience is rhythmic, focused, consummatory, and reaches beyond the transitory boundaries of concrete existence. The aesthetic is not confined to what is conventionally identified as art. Most important, the ethical-political, the natural and the cosmic all have an aesthetic aspect, as the paper attempts to show by examining classical Confucianism. (shrink)
This essay presents an in-depth interpretation of the controversial dialogue in Analects 13.18 through careful and critical investigation of its historical background and philosophical significations. With a clarification of the multifaceted connotations of the word zhi (?, upright, forthright), my study brings out the play of irony in Confucius's words in Analects 13.18. According to my interpretation, not only is Confucius's reaction not inappropriate but it also demonstrates the art of early Confucian moral discretion that was informed by the teaching (...) of quan (? moral discretion). Accordingly, Confucius's judgment of the case embodied a high and bright middle way of moral choice originating in the openness and sincerity of heart. It epitomized a singular moment of deliberation and decision that was responsible for a sinuous opening of piety and individuality within the interplay of conflicting conditions and requisitions. (shrink)
Abstract The first several chapters of the Bhagavad Git? set themselves a daunting task: to explain how a life of action can be rendered compatible with a life of renunciation of desire. The situation, in fact, is designed to raise the issue in an excruciatingly intense form. As Krsna and Arjuna pause on the verge of the great battle, Arjuna asks how killing people?including his own teachers and members of his own family?in order to secure power and fame, can be (...) squared with his religious and ethical convictions. This paper is an attempt to explicate Krsna's solution of the paradox, not from the point of view of Hindu tradition (in which it has, of course, driven whole movements of thought), but simply as a philosophical problem in its own right. I will argue that the paradox of the Git? suggests a reconstrual of the way we conceive the relation of means and ends in our activities, a reconstrual that can be profitably elucidated through the concept of art. And I will argue that this reconstrual has the potential to change our relations to our world and to one another in a way that is deeply life?affirming. (shrink)
Buddhist maṇḍala that are made of colored sand or are painted on cloth have been well represented in Asian art circles in the West. Discussions of the role that they can play in stimulating religious contemplation or even as sacred icons charged with power have also appeared in English scholarship. The metaphorical meaning of the term maṇḍala, however, is less commonly referenced. This paper discusses how the founder of the Japanese school of Shingon Buddhism, the Buddhist monk Kūkai of (...) the ninth century, uses this term in a metaphorical sense to convey the transformed nature of awareness that is the ultimate goal of Buddhist practice. Emphasis is also placed on the importance of metaphorical thinking to the religious path of transformation itself. (shrink)
Richard Shusterman’s Pragmatist Aesthetics : Living Beauty, Rethinking Art was published in China in 2002. In the preface of the Chinese edition, the author claimed that his tentative idea of soma esthetics was encouraged by Chinese philosophy and other ancient Asian philosophy. Shusterman’s background in pragmatist philosophy greatly constrains his understanding of the body in classical Chinese aesthetics in that he only pays attention to the technical aspects of physical training while neglecting the philosophical basis of this training. In (...) Chinese philosophy the orientation of the body, the relationship between the body and the universe, the body characteristic of the beauty of nature and the beauty of art, etc., is a theoretical response to Shusterman’s oriental misreading. (shrink)
This paper provides an analysis of the key term aidagara ('betweenness') in the philosophical ethics of Watsuji Tetsurō (1889-1960), in response to and in light of the recent movement in Japanese Buddhist studies known as 'Critical Buddhism'. The Critical Buddhist call for a turn away from 'topical' or intuitionist thinking and towards (properly Buddhist) 'critical' thinking, while problematic in its bipolarity, raises the important issue of the place of 'reason' vs 'intuition' in Japanese Buddhist ethics. In this paper, a comparison (...) of Watsuji's 'ontological quest' with that of Martin Heidegger (1889-1976), Watsuji's primary Western source and foil, is followed by an evaluation of a corresponding search for an 'ontology of social existence' undertaken by Tanabe Hajime (1885-1962). Ultimately, the philosophico-religious writings of Watsuji Tetsurō allow for the 'return' of aesthesis as a modality of social being that is truly dimensionalized, and thus falls prey neither to the verticality of topicalism nor the limiting objectivity of criticalism. (shrink)
Looking at contemporary Japanese images of the self and how Japanese scholars have conceptualised the notion of the subjectivity three remarkable concepts of “the self” can be identified and distinguished from another: the Inner Self, the Political Self, the Social Self. In my paper I will discuss these concepts by high lightening their hybridity, plurality and their emphasis on the identity as an effect of self-realization. I shall argue that the investigation in the Japaneseunderstanding of the self is particularly fruitful (...) for a global understanding of subjectivity, because Japanese selfhood does not represent the “otherness” of the western thought but is actually crisscrossed by western and eastern ideas. What can be marked as the Inner Self combines ideas of the Buddhist “Non-Self” (anatman) and the European Idealistic Ego (Ich). Embedded in practises of meditation the Inner Self in the Japanese understanding is realized through the activity of finding and loosing oneself. The Political Self can be perceived as an amalgamation of the Asian art of the regime of the group and the western thought of Liberalism and personal identity. Somewhat discovered in Japan as a possibility of the self in the 19th century the Political Self comes into existence througheducational practise. Furthermore the Social Self brings together Chinese Confucian ethics and ancient Japanese Shintoism. Understood as a particle in the flow of social relations the Social Self is realized in Japan within the rituals of everyday live and physical hence tactical education in the childhood of a person. The Japanese concepts of the self exemplify on the level of their formal configuration the qualities of what can be called a plural anthropology. (shrink)
In this paper I examine two ways in which the past manifests as central to Japanese visual aesthetics. Although distinct, both are manifestations of an attitude that places value on the past, characterizing Japanese (and, to a large measure, East Asian generally) aesthetic thinking. The first is situated in action, with the use of models inherited from past masters in the creation of art, exemplified in the practice of pictorial and calligraphic copying, and the way of tea. The second (...) is situated in objects and values identified with patina and antiqueness. The attention given to the past in art practice, appreciation, and theory is a point of contrast with Western art theory. CiteULike Connotea Del.icio.us What's this? (shrink)
Modern scientific medicine is increasingly challenged by complementary and alternative therapies. Reviewing policy options for contemporary healthcare development, the World Health Organization's first global strategy on traditional and alternative medicine, released in May 2002, advocates integration. However, experience in East Asia, the only part of the world where state of the art modern scientific facilities are commonly found alongside thriving traditional practices, reveals that medical integration can take several forms. To clarify the available policy options, this article categorizes those forms, (...) identifying three types of integration (unification, equalization and subjugation), plus one type of non-integration (marginalization). It marks out a zone of balanced healthcare development that cuts across two of the integrationist types, and comprises non-discriminatory state treatment of separate but linked sectors of traditional and modern medicine. The article closes by exploring arguments for and against locating state policy in this zone, and holds that policy should be situated here for medical practices that can meet broadly acceptable professional standards, demonstrate an existing social demand, and generate an adequate supply of medical practitioners, possibly through some state subsidy. (shrink)
Introduction -- Hindu ethics -- Life's four goals -- Paths to Enlightenment -- Karma and rebirth -- Shades of Dharma -- Buddhist ethics -- The middle path -- The four noble truths -- In the wake of karma -- The four supreme virtues -- What is a Buddhist social ethics? -- Zen Buddhist ethics -- A way of the monk : practice is attainment -- A way of the warrior -- A way of tea : the virtue of presence -- (...) Taoist ethics -- Cultivating the Tao -- The art of yielding : Wu-wei -- Spontaneity as awareness -- Fasting of the mind -- Confucian ethics -- Lessons from the analects -- Human nature : is it essentially good or corrupt? -- Seeking the right balance in neo-Confucianism -- A return to Ako : Japanese neo-Confucianism -- Capitalism and human rights. (shrink)
In this collection of her provocative essays on Third World art and culture, award-winning filmmaker and theorist Trinh Minh-ha offers new challenges to Western regimes of knowledge. Bringing to her subjects an acute sense of the many meanings of the marginal, Trinh examines Asian and African texts, the theories of Barthes, questions of spectatorship, the enigmas of art, and the perils of anthropology. In one essay, taking off from ideas raised earlier by Zora Neale Hurston, Trinh considers with astonishment (...) the search by Western "experts" for the hidden values of a person or culture, a process of legitimized voyeurism that, she argues, ultimately equates psychological conflicts with depth , while inner experience is reduced to mere personal feeling. When the Moon Waxes Red is an extended argument against reductive analyses, even those that appear politically adroit. Feminist struggle is heterogeneous. The multiply-hyphenated peoples of color are not simply placed in a duality between two cultural heritages; throughout, Trinh describes the predicament of having to live "a difference that has no name and too many names already." She argues for multicultural revision of knowledge so that a new politics can transform reality rather than merely ideologize it. By rewriting the always emerging, already distorted place of struggle, such work seeks to "beat the master at his own game.". (shrink)
The Best Guide to Eastern Philosophy & Religion provides a thorough discussion of the most widely practices belief systems of the East. Author Diane Morgan understands how to direct the materialistic, linear way of Western thinking toward a comprehension of the cyclical, metaphysical essence of Eastern philosophy. With an emphasis on the tenets and customs that Wester seekers find most compelling, this text is accessible to the novice yet sophisticated enough for the experienced reader. Inside, you'll find complete coverage of (...) Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, as well as the less-widely practiced faiths of Shintoism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Zoroastrainism. Learn the fundamentals of the tantric path to liberation and the relationship between sex and seeking. Discover the true meaning of Feng Shui, the philosophical underpinnings of Hatha Yoga and Taoist connection to the martial art of Tai chi chuan. And if you've ever wondered: what is the sound of one hand clapping?. this book will get you started on finding that answer. The Eastern traditions, with their emphasis on harmony and oneness, have much to offer us in our hectic, demanding lives. For a comprehensive, entertaining exploration of the beliefs of Asia, The Best Guide to Eastern Philosophy & Religion is the essential manual for the seeker in all of us. (shrink)
The spiritual rewards and intellectual challenges of Eastern philosophy are revealed in this visually stunning book, illustrated by Joe Lee and with 19th-century engravings. Eastern philosophy is not only an intellectual pursuit, but one that involves one’s entire being. Much of it is so deeply entwined with the non-intellectual art of meditation, that the two are impossible to separate. In this survey of the major philosophies of India, China, Tibet and Japan, Jim Powell draws upon his knowledge of Sanskrit and (...) Chinese, as well as decades of meditation. Whether tackling Buddha, Confucius, Lao Tzu, Dogen, the Dalai Lama or Patanjal–Powell’s insights are deeply illuminating. All the major philosophies of India, China, Tibet and Japan are explained and everyone, from beginner to expert, will find Eastern Philosophy For Beginners an insightful overview. (shrink)
Abstract The tshogs zhing, or field of assembly, is an important subject in Tibetan religious art. Typically, it focuses on one's own guru, seated at the crest of a great tree, with the gurus preceding him ranged in the sky above him and the deities of one's tradition ranged on the tree below him. The tshogs zhing is an object of visualisation in Tibetan guru yoga practices, and serves as both a ?map? of the Tibetan sacred cosmos and as an (...) index of the guru's crucial role in the tradition as a mediator between the practitioner on the one hand and the diachronic lineage of teachers and the synchronie pantheon of deities, on the other. (shrink)
Both an emphasis on logic and an emphasis on rhetoric lead to a kind of care for language. However, in early Greece this care for language through the lens of logic manifested in the drive to ?get it right?, whereas in early China the care for language manifested in the pervasive concern for zhengming, for using names properly. For the early Chinese thinkers, especially the early Confucians, this was not predominantly a linguistic affair?zhengming is a key component of moral cultivation. (...) As we explore the ethical import of Confucian role ethics, we need to pay attention to the philosophical vocabulary of this worldview and to how our understanding of these crucial terms changes if persons are seen as relational?a central premise of Confucian role ethics. In this essay I argue against reading zhengming as fagu, merely a conservative retrieval of historical meaning, as suggested by the political philosopher Hsiao Kung-chuan, among others. Instead, I argue for three theses: (1) although stubbornly persistent, ?rectification of names? is not an adequate translation for zhengming; (2) the conservative reading of zhengming is problematic and needs to be rethought as an hermeneutic process intersecting past meanings, present circumstances, and future possibilities; and (3) zhengming is, in an important sense, the ?art? of Confucian role ethics, for achieving moral competency in this tradition is a matter of constantly revising one's roles and relationships. (shrink)
Leadership is the art of discovering and expressing one's inborn nature. It is a natural response, a way of being and doing within reality that creates a powerful influence on one's community toward greater degrees of peace and harmony on the individual and communal levels. In this paper, I use Chuang Tzu's philosophy (in its 1968 translation by Burton Watson) about the nature of reality and how one finds inner peace and harmony within themselves in order to demonstrate why it (...) is the self-realized individual who is the best candidate to non-coercively influence one's community into sounding more like a symphony, rather than a cacophony. (shrink)
This article briefly introduces the phenomena of ki- energy to the Western readers who are not familiar with them, by relying on Yuasa Yasuo's conceptual scheme. Ki- energy has traditionally been an intense thematic focus of various East-Asian fields of human endeavours such as acupuncture medicine, martial arts and meditational training. The article articulates some of the salient features of this energy as it is understood in these fields, while incorporating knowledge of contemporary scientific research on them. It is (...) written with a view to stimulating further research on it, as it carries important implications for addressing many of the issues we face today. (shrink)
Abstract This study was designed to investigate the factors affecting ethical practices of public relations professionals in public relations firms. In particular, the following organizational ethics factors were examined: (1) presence of ethics code, (2) top management support for ethical practice, (3) ethical climate, and (4) perception of the association between career success and ethical practice. Analysis revealed that the presence of an ethics code along with top management support and a non-egoistic ethical climate within public relations firms significantly influenced (...) public relations professionals' ethical practices. Content Type Journal Article Category Original Paper Pages 1-19 DOI 10.1007/s13520-011-0013-1 Authors Eyun-Jung Ki, Department of Advertising and Public Relations, College of Communication and Information Sciences, The University of Alabama, Box 870172, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0172, USA Junghyuk Lee, Division of Communication Arts, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, South Korea Hong-Lim Choi, School of Communication, Sun Moon University, 100, Kalsan-ri, Tangjeong-myeon, Asan-si, Chungnam 336-708, South Korea Journal Asian Journal of Business Ethics Online ISSN 2210-6731 Print ISSN 2210-6723. (shrink)
While there are avid chess players in Japan, China, Korea and throughout the East, far more popular is the deceptively simple game of Go, in which black and white pieces called stones are used to form intricate, interlocking patterns that sprawl across the board. So subtle and beautiful is this ancient game that, to hear aficionados describe it, Go is to chess what Asian martial arts like aikido are to a boxing match.
The appellation “Western” is, in my view, inappropriate when applied to Ancient Hellas and its greatest product, the Hellenic philosophy. For, as a matter of historical fact, neither the spirit of free inquiry and bold speculation, nor the quest of perfection via autonomous virtuous activity and ethical excellence survived, in the purity of their Hellenic forms, the imposition of inflexible religious doctrines and practices on Christian Europe. The coming of Christianity, with the theocratic proclivity of the Church, especially the hierarchically (...) organized Catholic Church, sealed the fate of Hellenic philosophy in Europe for more than a millennium. Since the Italian Renaissance, several attempts primarily by Platonists to revive the free spirit and other virtues of Hellenic philosophy have been invariably frustrated by violent reactions from religious movements, the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation, and the bloody wars which followed their appearance in Europe. Modern science succeeded to a certain extent, after struggle with the Catholic Church, in freeing itself from the snares of medieval theocratic restrictions. Thus, it managed to reconnect with the scientific spirit of late antiquity and its great achievements, especially in the fields of cosmology, physics, mathematics, and medicine, which enabled modern science to ad-vance further. But it seems that the mainstream European philosophy has failed to follow the example of science and to liberate itself, too. As in the Middle Ages, so in modern and post-modern times the “European philosophy” has continued to play the undignified and servile role of handmaiden of something. In addition to the medieval role of “handmaiden of theology” (ancilla theologiae), since the seventeenth century philosophy in Europe assumed the role of “handmaiden of science” (ancilla scientiae) and, with the coming of the Marxist “scientific socialism,” the extra role of ‘handmaiden of ideology” (ancilla ideologiae). In this respect, the so-called “Western philosophy,” as it has been historically practiced in Christian and partially Islamized Europe, is indeed a very different kind of product from the autonomous intellectual and ethical human activity, which the Ancient Hellenes named philosophia and honored as “the queen of arts and sciences.” In this historical light, Hellenic philosophy would appear to be closer to the Asian philosophies of India, China, Japan, and Korea than to Western or “European philosophy.” So as we stand at the post-cold war era, witnessing the collapse of Soviet-style Socialism and the coming of the post-modern era; as we look at the dawn of a new millennium and dream of a new global order of freedom and democracy, the moment seemspropitious for reflection. We may stop and reflect upon our philosophical past as exemplified in the free spirit of Hellenic philosophy and its misfortunes, its great “passion” in Christian Europe in the last two millennia or so. (shrink)
Qi (also spelled as Chi or Ki) is the universal energy or life force that permeates all beings. An understanding of Qi, a fundamental concept in traditional Chinese philosophy, is crucial to success in the practice of all East Asian healing and martial arts, from Tai Chi to Taekwondo and Reiki. But Qi has far broader and deeper applications: its proper understanding and utilization can bring harmony and balance to our modern lives. The power and focus it generates can (...) be put to use in the myriad tasks in which we engage daily, such as cooking, writing a book, designing a house, or preparing a business strategy. Reflections on Qi progresses from an explanation of what Qi is and how it is manifested throughout the universe to a description of how positive Qi can be introduced into the home, garden, workplace, and relationships. This is followed by an introduction to the various means of expressing and interpreting Qi in such pursuits as calligraphy, gardening, painting, and music. Lavishly illustrated, this book is the perfect reference for anyone interested in Eastern thought and wanting to incorporate its key beneficial elements into a Western lifestyle. (shrink)
The prevailing interpretation of ren (humanness) in the Analects is ethical. One consequence of this interpretation is the one-dimensional image of the Confucian junzi (noble man) as a rigid moralist, a fastidious observer of li (ritual). But there are numerous passages in the Analects that resist such a one-sided representation of the junzi, especially Confucius's remarks related to the (Book of) Songs and music. My basic thesis is that Confucius's concept of junji is aesthetic. This is implied by his notion (...) of junji ru (noble scholar) as opposed to xiaoren ru (common scholar). The noble man is one awakened to the beauty of humanness. It is because of this awareness that he 'sets his mind on the Way, depends on virtue, relies on ren and enjoys the arts.' Confucius included the Songs and music in his curriculum precisely for the purpose of cultivating in his pupils this aesthetic sensibility. (shrink)
