Philosophical Questions East and West

by Gupta, Bina; Mohanty, J. N.

• ISBN13: 9780847692842
• ISBN10: 0847692841
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-01-12
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Philosophical Questions: East and West is an anthology of source material for use in comparative courses in philosophy, religion, and the humanities. The readings--derived from the great works of the Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Islamic, and Western intellectual traditions--are presented as answers to some of the most enduring questions in philosophy. Discussions are arranged under the headings of epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, philosophy of religion, aesthetics, and the nature of human being. Each section begins with an introductory essay in which the leading questions and their responses from different traditions are presented in overview. Philosophical Questions raises the central questions of comparative philosophy and eloquently argues the need for discarding familiar cliches to make a fresh, unprejudiced study of these traditions.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
General Introduction: A Framework for Comparative Philosophy	xi
Part 1: Metaphysics
Introduction: What is Real or Reality?	3	(7)
Parmenides, The Way of Truth	10	(11)
Aristotle, Metaphysics	21	(4)
Rg Veda: Hymn to Creation	25	(1)
Atharva Veda: Hymn to Time	26	(2)
Upanisad: Isa	28	(2)
Upanisad: Kena	30	(1)
Samkara: Superimposition	31	(3)
``Brahman''	34	(5)
Eliot Deutsch
Tao Te Ching	39	(7)
Lao Tzu
``Lao Tzu's Conception of Tao''	46	(17)
Charles Wei-Hsun Fu
The Philosophy of Material Force	63	(7)
Chang Tsai
Conditioning Causes and Nirvana	70	(4)
Nagarjuna
``The True Nature of Reality''	74	(13)
Kitaro Nishida
Study Questions	80	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	81	(6)
Part 2: Epistemology
Introduction: What Are the Nature and Sources of Knowledge?	87	(5)
The Nature of Knowledge (Theaetetus)	92	(11)
Plato
Theory of Recollection (Meno)	103	(7)
Plato
Means of True Cognition	110	(3)
Gautama
Vatsyayana
Cognition Generated by a Sentence	113	(3)
Dharmaraja
Cognition	116	(2)
Sri Dharmakirti
``Deliverance from Error''	118	(11)
Al-Ghazali
Meditations	129	(11)
Rene Descartes
``Western and Comparative Prespectives on Truth''	140	(19)
Huston Smith
Study Questions	155	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	156	(3)
Part 3: Ethics
Introduction: On What Principles Do I Judge Things Right and Wrong?	159	(9)
The First Sermon	168	(3)
Gautama Buddha
Euthyphro	171	(13)
Plato
Nichomachean Ethics	184	(13)
Aristotle
Confucius, The Analects	197	(17)
Universal Love	214	(9)
Mo Tzu
The Bhagavad Gita: Action, Knowledge, and Devotion	223	(4)
Political Theory of Islam	227	(13)
Abul A'la Maududi
The Categorical Imperative	240	(13)
Immanuel Kant
Utilitarianism	253	(11)
John Stuart Mill
Ambiguity and Freedom	264	(10)
Simone de Beauvoir
``Letter from Birmingham Jail''	274	(14)
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ahimsa	288	(12)
Mahatma Gandhi
``Chinese and Western Interpretations of Jen''(Humanity)	300	(21)
Wing-tsit Chan
Study Questions	313	(3)
Suggestions for Further Reading	316	(5)
Part 4: Religion
Introduction: Does God Exist? What Is the Nature of God?	321	(7)
The Ontological Argument	328	(3)
St. Anselm
The Cosmological Argument	331	(3)
St. Thomas Aquinas
On Spontaneity and A Discussion of Death	334	(5)
Wang Ch'ung
The Qur'an, The Conception of God in Islam	339	(6)
``Reality Omnipresent''	345	(7)
Sri Aurobindo
``Zen Enlightenment''	352	(23)
Kaiten Nukariya
Study Questions	369	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	370	(5)
Part 5: Philosophical Anthropology
Introduction: What Is the Nature of Human Beings?	375	(5)
Mencius, Human Nature	380	(10)
The Nature of Man in Islam	390	(11)
Isma'il Ragi al Faruqi
``What Is Enlightenment?''	401	(7)
Immanuel Kant
``Is the Human Race Continually Improving?''	408	(14)
Immanuel Kant
``The `Who' of Dasein''	422	(8)
Martin Heidegger
``Man's Nature''	430	(7)
Rabindranath Tagore
``Self in Japanese Culture''	437	(18)
Takie Sugiyama Lebra
Study Questions	453	(1)
Suggestions for Further Reading	454	(1)
Index	455	(9)
About the Editors	464