Comparative Philosophy Commons^™

The Methodological Problems Of Incorporating Indigenous Philosophy In Collaborative Research, Luthonliu Gangmei, P. Milan Khangamcha

Comparative Philosophy

This paper addresses the methodological challenges inherent in collaborative research endeavours focused on the development of Indigenous philosophy. It argues that these challenges persist due to a lack of recognition of the autonomy and intrinsic philosophical value of ethno-philosophy or Indigenous philosophy. Despite the United Nations acknowledging the significance of indigenous worldviews and their philosophical underpinnings, they are still yet to be fully integrated into the global knowledge domain. The paper highlights the tendency to view indigenous philosophy solely as a cultural asset of indigenous peoples rather than recognizing its broader philosophical relevance. It identifies this as a critical interdisciplinary …

Epicurus And The Buddha On Desire, Andrew Alwood

Comparative Philosophy

The philosophies of Epicurus and the Buddha aim to free us from suffering by helping us to recognize how ignorance and delusion lead us to pursue harmful desires. Since the problem lies in our attitudes, the solution is to change our attitudes. Like doctors healing the sick, they offer therapeutic practical advice, to remove the groundless opinions and the unhealthy desires that cause suffering. Although various misconceptions may lead us to conceive of these two thinkers as quite different with respect to values and ethics, there are remarkable similarities. Indeed, their practical advice for how to live has the same …

Reading, Rending, And Queering The Web Of Story With The Lenses Of “Con-Creation” And Process Theology, Cameron Bourquein, Nick Polk

Mythopoeic Society Seminar Proceedings

“Sub-creation” within Tolkien’s narrative and extra-narrative works is routinely exhibited not as monolithic but rather as (literally and figuratively) polyphonic. In this joint paper Bourquein proposes that the Legendarium can be read through the lens of “con-creation” (total, continuous, collective, creative activity) both internally (as events in the Secondary World) and externally (as both a text and a pseudohistory in the Primary World). This approach levels the playing field between all actors in—and readers of—“The Drama,” providing a queer approach to interpretive-creative activity when compared to “orthodox” doctrines of creation. Polk further argues that con-creation resonates with process theologies of …

Johann Georg Hamann And The Liberal Project, Jesse D. Ansley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines the political thought of Johann Georg Hamann, his relationship to liberalism, and the importance to modern concerns for consensus formation and intercultural dialogue. This contributes to the line of literature sparked by Isaiah Berlin debating the political legacy of Hamann and its relation to the development of modern politics. Berlin labels Hamann an anti-rationalist whose current developed into the ideology of the Nazi party. My work supports the countervailing arguments that Hamann’s work is importantly different from the Romantics he inspired and even more so from the Nazis. By examining two complete works and a number of …

40 Years Passing By In (A) “Heartbeat”, Christopher Janney

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

This article outlines the forty-year history go Christopher Janney’s iconic performance work “HeartBeat.” Trained as an architect and jazz musician, Janney combines these two disciplines to create large interactive light/sound installations and performances. On the one hand, he attempts to make architecture more like music, more “alive” using real-time sensing devices as on his “Harmonic Convergence” installation on the Miami International Airport. On the other hand, he attempts to make music more like architecture, more physical more visual. In his “HeartBeat” performance, a dancer wears a heartbeat device that amplifies his/her heartbeat in “real time.” Over this pulse, live musicians …

Yoga Sūtra Book Four And The Yogabindu, Christopher Key Chapple

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

Four themes from the fourth pāda of Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtra are examined here: karma (IV:2-13), individuality (IV:16), humility (IV:20-22), and freedom (IV:29-34). Affirmations and variant interpretations of these four are provided from Haribhadra Virahāṅka’s Yogabindu, most likely composed a century or two later.

Collective Karma: From The Yogasūtra To Taylor Swift, Zoë Slatoff

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

The Indian knowledge traditions speak at length about karma, which is divided into three categories—accumulated (saṃcita), ripe (prārabdha), and future (kriyamāṇa). While much is said about our individual karma and how it affects our repeated reincarnation in cyclic existence, how does this affect others and how do others affect us? In other words, as this paper explores, what is our reciprocal and collective karma?

Painting Liberation: A Visual Ontology Of The Interplay Of Mind And Consciousness In Book Four Of The Yoga Sūtras, Melissa Townsend

Monsoon: South Asian Studies Association Journal

This presentation explores how artistic practice can illuminate philosophical questions about the nature of mind, consciousness, and liberation as articulated in Book Four of the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali. Through a series of paintings that visually translate these sūtras, I propose that art offers a unique, experiential means of engaging with the complex relationship between citta (mind) and puruṣa (consciousness).

The paintings function as a form of “visual ontology,” inviting viewers to engage with abstract philosophical concepts in a sensory, tangible way. By depicting the interplay between the mutable processes of the mind and the unchanging awareness of consciousness, these …

The Historian And The Past In The Present Age: Omolewa And Adesina’S Inaugural Lectures In Perspective, Ikeoluwapo B. Baruwa

Journal of Research Initiatives

In their inaugural lectures, Omolewa and Adesina emphasized the importance of history in studying the changes that have occurred over the years across all aspects of humanity, particularly in education. This paper aims to examine the contributions of Omolewa and Adesina, delving into their arguments and insights. While this paper may adopt a critical approach, it also acknowledges the value of their work. It presents a dissenting view from Omolewa's perspective on historical education, particularly regarding his analogy of history as a rearview mirror and the objectivity of historians. The paper contends that historians must be aware of historical texts' …

Evaluating Bad Theology And Making A Case For The Ethical Priority Of Religious Diversity In Tolkien Studies, Nick Polk

Journal of Tolkien Research

Presented at Oxonmoot in 2024, the aim of this paper is to present a selection of theological Tolkien criticisms for the purpose of evaluating them through practical theologian Leah Robinson’s definition of bad theology. The point is argued that bad theology in Tolkien Studies needs to be identified and understood as unethical and replaced with the openness of theologian John Thatamanil’s criteria for religious diversity. Concluding will be a promotion of religious diversity as an ethical priority and evaluative tool for future theological engagements within Tolkien Studies.

Constructive Engagement Between Ecological Thoughts Of Karl Marx And Lao Zi, Hongyin Zhou, Yuqi Chen

Comparative Philosophy

The global ecological crisis has posed unprecedented survival challenges to human being. Consequently, ecological issues have naturally become central concerns in philosophy. From the methodological perspective of constructive engagement in comparative philosophy, we have chosen to compare the ecological thoughts of two thinkers—Karl Marx and Lao Zi (老子)—who are separated by vast spans of time and cultural tradition. We argue that Karl Marx holds a mild anthropocentric ecological view, while Lao Zi holds a transcendental ecological view. In addressing ecological issues, Lao Zi’s transcendental methodological guiding principles can provide negative methodological constraints for Karl …

Global Metaphors For Wisdom: Philosophy As A Species Of The Genus Hao-Xue, Joshua Mason

Comparative Philosophy

Many philosophers have refused to recognize Chinese traditions as genuinely philosophical. The conceptual foundations of these exclusionary efforts appear in Aristotle’s dividing philosophy from rhetoric, then associating philosophy with truth, and rhetoric with metaphor. The Chinese have frequently been defined as metaphorical thinkers, in contrast with the logical, scientific, or literal pursuits of Occidental traditions. Because metaphor is classed with rhetoric, and Chinese was associated with metaphor, critics had a way to say that the Chinese weren’t participating in philia-sophia as rational inquiry into truth. I draw on two strands of 20^th century philosophy to move us beyond this …

A New Look At The Debate Between Confucian Soft-Power And Legalist Hard-Power Statecrafts And Its Contemporary Significance, Shirong Luo

Comparative Philosophy

In recent years, comparative scholars and commentators have attempted to find ways to best characterize the opposition between Confucianism and Legalism. For example, it has been argued that Confucianism exemplifies “idealism”, whereas Legalism is a version of “realism” and that their dispute can be construed as a clash between the broader philosophical frameworks of idealism and realism. While casting these opposing political philosophies as such can shed some light on the differences between the two schools of classical Chinese philosophy, these conceptual labels are too broad to capture their fundamental differences, which in my view are their different understandings of …

From Contemplation To Counseling: Exploring Philosophical Practice By Constructive-Engagement Strategy Of Comparative Philosophy, Xiaojun Ding, Chao Yang, Peter Harteloh, Feng Yu

Comparative Philosophy

This paper applies Bo Mou’s Constructive-Engagement Strategy of Comparative Philosophy (CESCP) to explore philosophical practice as a novel paradigm that applies philosophy to everyday life. The study advocates for a transformative methodology that seeks truth through critical engagement, joint contributions, and diverse methodological tools, advancing the discipline towards a comprehensive world philosophy. Philosophical practice, characterized by its engagement with human experience and existential inquiries, integrates Eastern and Western philosophies to guide individuals in the art of living. It offers a philosophical alternative to psychological counseling, focusing on reasoning to address life’s challenges and ethical dilemmas. The paper examines the integration …

Chinese Feminist Philosophy: Philosophizing Chinese Feminism In Transcultural Contexts, Yuanfang Dai

Comparative Philosophy

This paper aims to develop a Chinese feminist philosophy while positioning a transcultural approach as an alternative to transnational and national feminism. It focuses on Chinese feminist scholarship from the mid-1990s to the present. My main argument is that the intellectual development of Chinese feminist scholarship in the past three decades has been significantly influenced by U.S.-centric global feminism and international feminism, while at the same time being drawn from an existing history of feminism in China and reflections on the complicated relationship between global influences and local Chinese conditions. Transcultural feminism is something I see emerging out of the …

A Realist Daoism: Reading The Zhuang-Zi With Lao Zi's Daoist Realism, Wai Lok Cheung

Comparative Philosophy

A realist Daoism is best illustrated through contrasting with something less robust. Chad Hansen’s Daoism may be understood as a linguistic constructivism and is thus a good candidate. I challenge his interpretation of the Zhuang-Zi and respond with a realist understanding of daos. The resultant realist Daoism is to be understood given a Daoist realism from Lao Zi’s Dao-De-Jing, whose realist flavour is constituted by some dao sometimes, if not always, outrunning us. The present paper thus situates Zhuang Zi better as inheriting Daoism from Lao Zi, contributing to classical Daoism with a relativity …

Righteousness Versus Yi: Two Senses Of Justice, Cuiting Chen

Comparative Philosophy

The narratives of Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac in the Old Testament and Shun’s renunciation of the throne to save his father, who had committed a crime in Meng-Zi, have had a profound influence on Western and Chinese culture. The two stories are widely known and referenced due to their cultural significance, which is evident in various artistic, literary, religious, and philosophical forms. While the two narratives may be viewed as murder and corruption from a universal ethical standpoint, historical traditions interpret them differently. Abraham’s actions are revered as the epitome of righteousness, while Shun’s actions exemplify the most appropriate ( …

Preface, Wei Sun

Comparative Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Editor's Words: On Constructive-Engagement Character Of Comparative Studies Of Chinese Philosophy Toward World Philosophy—In View Of Iscwp’S Two-Decade Development, Bo Mou

Comparative Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Being And Sacrifice: An Essay On Hegelian Logic, Mitch Thiessen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A study of Hegelian logic in relation to postmodern thought, this essay investigates the limits and contemporary significance of Hegel’s concept of knowledge, both on its own terms and from the perspective of three of its most polemical critics: Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, and Georges Bataille. Of especial consequence in this study are the themes of individuality, desire, history, and death, insofar as Hegel’s critics judge him to have inadequately come to terms with—and to have even suppressed—the truth or fact of these realities, all of which are potentially fatal for his theory of the subject.

Anātman & Lack: Between Nāgārjuna And Lacan, Carter Morris

The Confluence

The notion of the Self lies at the heart of subjectivity. This paper aims to analyze and compare two intellectual traditions that have their own subversive philosophies of the Self and subjectivity—these two traditions being Mādhyamaka Buddhism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. Beginning with primers on both Nāgārjuna’s philosophy and Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory, this paper will discuss the comparative psychologies and philosophies of subjectivity presented by the ideas of non-Self and Lack, respectively. Also briefly compared are the implied metaphysics of both Śūnyatā and Lacanian Lack. An examination of these comparisons’ weaknesses follows along with some closing remarks.

Mythos And Meaning: Medieval Appropriations Of Mythological Types In The Consolation Of Philosophy And Later Western Literatures, Francis J. Hunter

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Often referred to as the last Roman and first medieval, Boethius, author of The Consolation of Philosophy, has been widely received as an unoriginal philosopher who sought to preserve Platonic thought as the Western Roman Empire fell. However, this essay features an investigation into the literary originality of Boethius who initiates a line of Christian and Platonic literatures to follow in the medieval European tradition. Boethius demonstrates himself to be a poet who makes great use of philosophy rather than as a philosopher writing poetry. Boethius’ poetic influence is felt most strongly in major aspects of Dante’s Divine Comedy and …

Dispelling Delusion And Seeing Nature: A Comparative Analysis Of Lucretius’ _De Rerum Natura_ And Hui-Neng’S _Platform Sutra_, Isaac Raymond

Honors Theses

Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura and Hui-neng’s Platform Sutra have never been compared in a scholarly context; as such, this paper builds a new bridge between Western and Eastern philosophical literature, examining language, narrative, ethics, teleology, theology, and departures from orthodox philosophies in order to synthesize a clear and complete view of the two works in dialogue. De Rerum Natura, or On the Nature of Things, is a first-century BC epic poem composed in Latin by Titus Lucretius Carus which explains Epicurean philosophy in great detail through verse. The Platform Sutra is an eighth-century AD Chinese Zen (Ch’an) Buddhist sermon, …

Of Method: A Propaedeutic To Coleridge's Prose Works, Michael A. Granger

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Coleridge’s prose works, published and unpublished, demonstrate a thorough and critical testing and understanding of British and German philosophical responses to skepticism and the ability of philosophy to progress by maintaining a double-minded and conflicted suture of both the practical or imaginative eclipse of knowledge and theorizing the hypothetical epistemological absolute that explains the relativity of facticity. Any inadequate method of inquiry stagnates within attempting a purely figurative or purely demonstrative solution to skepticism. Thus, the appropriate way to approach Coleridge’s understanding of philosophy is the struggle to make inquiry adequate though progression. Coleridge’s methodological impulse originates explicitly in a …

Book Review On Kyoto School Philosophy In Comparative Perspective: Ideology, Ontology, Modernity (By Bernard Stevens), Dennis Stromback

Comparative Philosophy

No abstract provided.

Xun Zi On Desiring To Be Good: Desire As The Necessary Condition For The Transformation Of Nature, Angel Ting

Comparative Philosophy

There are various discussions on the role of desires in the Xun-Zi and how the transformation of nature takes place. Some scholars hold that the heart-mind can override inborn human desires, a view that is analogous to externalism; others maintain the internalism view that desires are essentially motivating in the Xun-Zi. This paper aims to resolve this seeming conflict between externalism and internalism. By introducing David B. Wong's model of being an internalist about duty and an externalist about reason, I will show that desires in the Xun-Zi are necessarily motivating because of their direction of fit, and …

A Comparative Study Of Emotion In Indian And Western Philosophy, Prasasti Pandit, William Krieger

Comparative Philosophy

This paper aims to develop a comparative analysis of the place of emotion from Indian and Western philosophical perspectives. Both Eastern and Indian philosophy consider three mental states as being involved with the arousal of emotions, i.e., cognitive (epistemic), conative (desire), and affective. In Indian philosophy, there is no such single term or specific equivalent definition to the Western term ‘emotion.’ Further, there is no clear dichotomy (cognitive & non-cognitive) between reason and emotion in Indian culture. In Indian scriptures, there are various, at times intermingled conceptions of emotion. From a religious standpoint, emotion can be an expression of religious …

Golden Rule Ethics And Complementary Learning Process With The Other: From Confucius’ And Christian Approaches To Hatatas’ Approach, Fasil Merawi

Comparative Philosophy

Through the development of a comparative analysis that explores the conceptions of the Golden Rule that are expressed in the teachings of Confucius, Christianity and the Hatatas, the article shows that the combined insights that emerge from these three teachings have a contemporary significance in the attempt to develop a complementary learning process with the Other. Throughout its variations, the Golden Rule is grounded on the need to treat others as how we want to be treated. Such a moral vision occupies a central importance in Confucius’s ren, Christianity’s Gospel of Matthew and the commandments, and the Hatatas’ principle of …

A Madhyamaka Critique Of Jaegwon Kim's Supervenience Argument, Tyler J. Jungbauer

Comparative Philosophy

Jaegwon Kim’s supervenience argument objects to the possibility of emergent causation (both downward and same-level) based on both (1) the causal overdetermination of both (a) higher-level emergent events and (b) lower-level basal events, and (2) the causal closure principle of the physical domain. Kim argues that emergent causation entails epiphenomenalism. Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy skeptically critiques the primary (ultimate) existence of causal phenomena and instead suggests that all such phenomena may only be secondarily (conventionally) existent. Mādhyamikas acknowledge that, conventionally, emergent phenomena appear to cause both basal phenomena and other emergent phenomena. However, contra Kim, Mādhyamikas doubt that causal relations ultimately …

Intersecting Perspectives: A Comparative Dialogue On Respect In Confucian And Western Philosophies, Chuan Chih Hsu, Antonio Calderón, Chia Shih Su

Comparative Philosophy

Present study analyzes the concept of respect in both Confucius' and Western philosophical traditions. It reveals the differences in interpretation and practice of respect due to their distinctive cultural, historical, and philosophical contexts. Confucius' philosophy emphasizes respect towards authority, traditions, and the elderly through dedication and commitment, while Western philosophy, primarily Aristotle's perspective, emphasizes reciprocal respect and the inherent rights of individuals. Both systems of thought, although contrasting, seek to promote values fostering cooperation, understanding, and peaceful coexistence. Despite their varied conceptualizations of respect, the ultimate goal remains the same – to provide ethical and moral guidance for a harmonious …