East Asian religions and spiritual beliefs Books

Book SynopsisIn this global introduction to philosophy of religion you begin not with a single tradition, but with religious philosophies from East Asia, South Asia, West Africa, and Native North America, alongside the classical Abrahamic and modern European traditions. Matching this diversity of traditions, chapters are organized around questions that acknowledge there is no single understanding of any god or ultimate reality. Instead you approach six different traditions of philosophizing about religion by asking questions about the journeys of both the self and the cosmos such as What is my path? and Where did the cosmos come from? Accompanied by introductory materials and an extensive glossary, each chapter includes learning objectives, questions for discussion, and suggested primary and secondary sources. The categories of religion and philosophy are interrogated throughout. Equipped with study tools and universal questions about the self and the cosmos, Philosophies of Religion: A GlobalTrade ReviewPhilosophies of Religion is a stunning intellectual achievement, from one of the world’s pioneers in forging a properly global and critical path within philosophy of religion. This is the undergraduate textbook for which we’ve been desperately waiting. In a field plagued by parochialism and cultural innocence, Knepper is lighting the way forward, dragging all of us into a new era of enlightened research and teaching. Masterpiece! * Wesley J. Wildman, Professor of Philosophy, Theology, and Ethics, Boston University, USA *Timothy Knepper offers a comprehensive and critical introduction to perennial philosophical questions addressed from diverse religious and intellectual perspectives. This outstanding textbook demonstrates how philosophy of religion should be studied and taught in the global age. * Yujin Nagasawa, H.G. Wood Professor of the Philosophy of Religion, University of Birmingham, UK *Table of ContentsIntroduction PART I: PHILOSOPHY, RELIGION, AND PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION Chapter 1: The Traditions of Philosophy of Religion Chapter 2: What Is Religion? Chapter 3: What Is Philosophy? Chapter 4: The Content, Method, and Goals of Global-Critical Philosophy of Religion PART II: JOURNEYS OF THE SELF Chapter 5: Who Am I? Chapter 6: Where Do I Come From? Chapter 7: Where Am I Going? Chapter 8: How Do I Get There? Chapter 9: What Obstacles Stand in My Way? PART III: JOURNEYS OF THE COSMOS Chapter 10: What is the Cosmos? Chapter 11: Where Does the Cosmos Come From? Chapter 12: Where Is the Cosmos Going? Chapter 13: What is the Path of the Cosmos? Chapter 14: What Obstacles Stand in the Way of the Cosmos? Epilogue: Which Journey, if any, Leads to its Destination? Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn a society that has seen epochal change over a few generations, what remains to hold people together and offer them a sense of continuity and meaning? In Songs for Dead Parents, Erik Mueggler shows how in contemporary China death and the practices surrounding it have become central to maintaining a connection with the world of ancestors, ghosts, and spirits that socialism explicitly disavowed. Drawing on more than twenty years of fieldwork in a mountain community in Yunnan Province, Songs for Dead Parents shows how people view the dead as both material and immaterial, as effigies replace corpses, tombstones replace effigies, and texts eventually replace tombstones in a long process of disentangling the dead from the shared world of matter and memory. It is through these processes that people envision the cosmological underpinnings of the world and assess the social relations that make up their community. Thus, state interventions aimed at reforming death practices have been deeply co

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn a society that has seen epochal change over a few generations, what remains to hold people together and offer them a sense of continuity and meaning? In Songs for Dead Parents, Erik Mueggler shows how in contemporary China death and the practices surrounding it have become central to maintaining a connection with the world of ancestors, ghosts, and spirits that socialism explicitly disavowed. Drawing on more than twenty years of fieldwork in a mountain community in Yunnan Province, Songs for Dead Parents shows how people view the dead as both material and immaterial, as effigies replace corpses, tombstones replace effigies, and texts eventually replace tombstones in a long process of disentangling the dead from the shared world of matter and memory. It is through these processes that people envision the cosmological underpinnings of the world and assess the social relations that make up their community. Thus, state interventions aimed at reforming death practices have been deeply co

Read more less

Book SynopsisTracing Japan's religions from the Hein Period through the middle ages and into modernity, this book explores the unique establishment of Shinto, Buddhism, and Confucianism in Japan, as well as the later influence of Roman Catholicism, and the problem of Restoration--both spiritual and material--following World War II.Table of ContentsPreface to the Paperback Edition Preface Abbreviations Emperor, Shaman, and Priest Kami, Amida, and Jizo The Pure Land, Nichiren, and Zen Kirishitan, Neo-Confucianism, and the Shogunate Modernity, Culture, and Religion Old Dreams or New Vision Chronological Table Glossary Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisUsing the ethics and aesthetics of the Asian martial arts to enrich our knowledge of human behavior, bodily movement, technical knowledge, and artistic creation.Trade ReviewStriking Beauty presents a beautifully and forcefully written account of the philosophical background of martial arts in Eastern and Western traditions. At the same time, it also presents the author's vision of a contemporary philosophy, and phenomenology, of the martial arts and their aesthetic, somatic, and ethical dimensions. It is a ground-breaking and inspiring book that will appeal to everyone interested in the practice, theory, and history of martial arts. -- Hans-Georg Moeller, University of Macau An incredible book that views the Chinese martial arts from every angle-philosophical, psychological, and practical-from their home of origin throughout the world at large, from ancient times to the present. Truly a breathtaking experience. -- Stanley Henning, independent scholar of Chinese martial arts history One might think that there is no connection at all between the martial arts and philosophy; but there are many, as Barry Allen shows in Striking Beauty. The book is both knowledgeable and perceptive, and Allen writes with a clarity that makes it a pleasure to read. This is an engaging book for any martial artist or any philosopher with an interest in the martial arts, as well as for any other philosopher who welcomes a novel perspective on his or her subject -- Graham Priest, Graduate Center, CUNY Striking Beauty is a necessary book, connecting themes from Chinese and Western spiritual and philosophical traditions with the embodied aesthetics of self-cultivation found in the martial arts. Allen's discussion is lively, wide-ranging, and multiply revealing. From Buddha and Laozi to Bruce Lee and postmodernism, from dance to sport to sculpture: Allen displays mastery of incredibly wide-ranging materials. Both philosophers and practitioners will find his treatment accurate, broad, profound, and potentially transformative, revealing much about combat and art, life and intellect, body and mind. -- Crispin Sartwell, Dickinson College, author of Six Names of Beauty Displaying a firm understanding of both Western and Chinese philosophical traditions, Striking Beauty instructively addresses the much neglected topic of East Asian martial arts philosophy, providing scholarly insights into ethics, aesthetics, and comparative philosophy from a convincing somatic perspective. -- Richard Shusterman, author of Thinking through the Body: Essays in Somaesthetics Allen presents a dazzling display of intellectual moves that strike to the core of the wisdom behind the Asian martial arts. As though we were on the mat, he gracefully throws the reader from illuminating historical accounts to pages of penetrating philosophical analysis. He locks up with broad issues about the nature of violence and power as well as such strange but compelling questions as how it is that some of us can find a violent punch an object of sublime beauty.Both a romp and a workout, this elegantly written book should be mandatory reading for all students of the martial arts. -- Gordon Marino, St. Olaf College Allen is our preeminent student of artistry in the applied arts, the beauty that comes as an unsought byproduct of devotion to instrumental effectiveness. Here he writes as a seasoned practitioner about Asian martial arts-disciplines whose devotion to bodily excellence and violence pose special challenges to sympathetic philosophical understanding -- David Hills, Stanford University A significant contribution to comparative philosophy, Allen's Striking Beauty is a focused investigation of the intersection of Asian martial arts, the philosophical traditions surrounding them, and Western philosophy... Highly recommended. ChoiceTable of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments 1. The Dao of Asian Martial Arts: Themes from Chinese Philosophy 2. From Dualism to the Darwinian Body: Themes from Western Philosophy 3. Power and Grace: Martial Arts Aesthetics 4. What a Body Can Do: Martial Arts Ethics Epilogue: Martial Arts and Philosophy Chinese-English Glossary Notes Index

Read more less