Nāgārjuna and the Philosophy of Openness

Nāgārjuna and the Philosophy of Openness
Author: Nancy McCagney
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 260
Release: 1997
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780847686278

In this innovative study of the philosopher Nagarjuna, Nancy McCagney demonstrates that the concept of space ('akasa') in early Indian Mahayana Buddhism is the root metaphor for Nagarjuna's understanding of 'sunyata', or openness. Nagarjuna's use of the term 'sunyata' was new, and contrasted with the word's use in Pali Buddhist literature. By using the word to mean 'openness,' Nagarjuna was able to elucidate, through a deeper analysis of impermanence, a consistent philosophical foundation for the truth and efficacy of Gautama's Middle Way. McCagney's book will be important for those studying Indian philosophy, Buddhism, and the philosophy of religion.

A Philosophy of Emptiness

A Philosophy of Emptiness
Author: Gay Watson
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2014-03-15
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1780233256

We often view emptiness as a negative condition, a symptom of depression, despair, or grief—an assessment furthered by authors like Franz Kafka or the existentialists, Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus. Offering an alternative view, A Philosophy of Emptiness reclaims these hollow feelings as a positive and even empowering state, an antidote to the modern obsession with substance and foundation. Digging through early and non-Western philosophy, Gay Watson uncovers a rich history of emptiness. She travels from Buddhism, Taoism, and religious mysticism to the contemporary world of philosophy, science, and art practice. Though most Western philosophies are concerned with substance and foundation, she finds that the twentieth century has seen a resurgence of emptiness and offers reasons why such an apparently unappealing concept has attracted modern musicians, artists, and scientists, as well as preeminent thinkers throughout the ages. Probing the idea of how a life without foundation might be lived—and why a person might choose this path—A Philosophy of Emptiness links these concepts to contemporary ideas of meditation and the mind, presenting a rich and intriguing take on the concept of emptiness and the history of thought.

Asian Philosophies

Asian Philosophies
Author: John M. Koller
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 398
Release: 2002
Genre: Education
ISBN:

With an inside view from an expert in the field, solid scholarship, and a clear and engaging writing style, Asian Philosophies invites students and professors to think along with the great thinkers of the Asian traditions. John M. Koller is a scholar and teacher who has devoted his life to understanding Asian thought and practice. He wrote this text to give students and professors access to the rich philosophical and religious ideas of both South and East Asia.

Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy

Buddhism Between Religion and Philosophy
Author: Rafal K. Stepien
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 417
Release: 2024
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0197771300

Nāgārjuna is the most influential of all Buddhist thinkers following the Buddha himself. Throughout his works, Nāgārjuna calls on us to completely abandon all our views. But how could anyone possibly do that? This book shows not only how Nāgārjuna's truly radical teaching of "abelief" makes perfect sense within his Buddhist philosophy, but how it stands at the summit of his religious mission to care for all living beings. Rather than treating any one aspect of Nāgārjuna's ideas in isolation, here he emerges as forging a single system of thought and practice, one that challenges the very ways in which we think about religion and philosophy.

The Other Side of Nothingness

The Other Side of Nothingness
Author: Beverly Lanzetta
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 208
Release: 2001-03-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780791449493

Provides an innovative theology based in mysticism, one that acknowledges the pain of spiritual repression and values religious pluralism.

Nishida Kitaro's Chiasmatic Chorology

Nishida Kitaro's Chiasmatic Chorology
Author: John W. M. Krummel
Publisher: Indiana University Press
Total Pages: 314
Release: 2015-09-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0253017866

Nishida Kitaro (1870–1945) is considered Japan's first and greatest modern philosopher. As founder of the Kyoto School, he began a rigorous philosophical engagement and dialogue with Western philosophical traditions, especially the work of G. W. F. Hegel. John W. M. Krummel explores the Buddhist roots of Nishida's thought and places him in connection with Hegel and other philosophers of the Continental tradition. Krummel develops notions of self-awareness, will, being, place, the environment, religion, and politics in Nishida's thought and shows how his ethics of humility may best serve us in our complex world.

Freedom and Determinism

Freedom and Determinism
Author: Joseph Keim Campbell
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 342
Release: 2004
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9780262532570

A state-of-the-art collection of previously unpublished essays on the topics of determinism, free will, moral responsibility, and action theory, written by some of the most important figures in these fields of study.