Crossing Horizons: World, Self, and Language in Indian and Western Thought

Shlomo Biderman

Published by Columbia University Press 2008

Crossing Horizons

World, Self, and Language in Indian and Western Thought

Shlomo Biderman
Translated by: Ornan Rotem

https://doi.org/10.7312/bide14024

Overview
Contents

About this book

In this book, Shlomo Biderman examines the views, outlooks, and attitudes of two distinct cultures: the West and classical India. He turns to a rich and varied collection of primary sources: the Rg Veda, the Upanishads, and texts by the Buddhist philosophers Någårjuna and Vasubandhu, among others. In studying the West, Biderman considers the Bible and its commentaries, the writings of such philosophers as Plato, Descartes, Berkeley, Kant, and Derrida, and the literature of Kafka, Melville, and Orwell. Additional sources are Mozart's Don Giovanni and seminal films like Ingmar Bergman's Persona.

Biderman uses concrete examples from religion and literature to illustrate the formal aspects of the philosophical problems of transcendence, language, selfhood, and the external world and then demonstrates their plausibility in actual situations. Though his method of analysis is comparative, Biderman does not adopt the disinterested stance of an "ideal" spectator. Rather, Biderman approaches ancient Indian thought and culture from a Western philosophical standpoint to uncover cultural presuppositions that can be difficult to expose from within the culture in question.

The result is a fascinating landmark in the study of Indian and Western thought. Through his comparative prism, Biderman explores the most basic ideas underlying human culture, and his investigation not only sheds light on India's philosophical traditions but also facilitates a deeper understanding of our own.

Author / Editor information

Shlomo Biderman is professor of philosophy and dean of the Faculty of the Humanities at Tel Aviv University. He has published widely in the fields of comparative and Indian philosophy.

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Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
1. Far and Beyond Transcendence in two cultures Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	13
2. Transcendence in two cultures On the origins of language Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
3. My-Self Descartes and early upanisads on the self Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	119
4.No-Self Kant, kafka, and nāgārjuna on the disappearing self Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
5. “It’s All in the Mind” Berkeley, vasubandhu, and the world out there Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	241
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
Bibliographical Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	329
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	347

Language: English
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 368

eBook

Published: February 8, 2008
ISBN: 9780231511599