Category Archives: Buddhism

Ivanhoe Reviews Makeham (ed.), The Buddhist Roots of Zhu Xi’s Philosophical Thought

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

2018.11.26 View this Review Online   View Other NDPR Reviews

John Makeham (ed.), The Buddhist Roots of Zhu Xi’s Philosophical Thought, Oxford University Press, 2018, 354pp., $74.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780190878559.

Reviewed by Philip J. Ivanhoe, Sungkyunkwan University

This volume aims at answering important questions about the historical sources of Zhu Xi’s philosophical system; it includes a wealth of information about earlier, Buddhist philosophical writings and makes clear how some of these appear to have informed and influenced the development of Zhu’s philosophical system. I will very briefly describe the contents of the volume, highlighting some of the ways in which the various chapters fill out our understanding of how Chinese Buddhist philosophy provided sources and context for the development of Zhu’s thought. I then will consider what the volume aims to and does achieve.

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Gowans Reviews Fiordalis (ed.), Buddhist Spiritual Practices

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

2018.09.08 View this Review Online   View Other NDPR Reviews

David V. Fiordalis (ed.), Buddhist Spiritual Practices: Thinking with Pierre Hadot on Buddhism, Philosophy, and the Path, Mangalam, 2018, 328pp., $35.00 (pbk), ISBN 9780898001174.

Reviewed by Christopher W. Gowans, Fordham University

Pierre Hadot’s interpretation of ancient Greek and Roman philosophy in terms of “philosophy as a way of life” constituted by “spiritual exercises” has received considerable attention from scholars of the period as well as by persons who welcome his defense of a way of doing philosophy that is more practical than dominant academic approaches today. Though Hadot is not without his critics (for example, questions have been raised about the adequacy of his historical claims),[1] his approach also has been seen as a point of view for interpreting non-Western philosophies. This has been true especially of Buddhist philosophy. The present collection of essays, based on a 2015 conference, is a welcome addition to the increasing number of readings of Buddhist philosophy from the perspective of Hadot. I will briefly summarize the essays and then offer some suggestions in light of them on some ways in which Hadot may be beneficial for our understanding Buddhist philosophy.

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Cokelet Reviews Bommarito, Inner Virtue

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

2018.07.10 View this Review Online   View Other NDPR Reviews

Nicolas Bommarito, Inner Virtue, Oxford University Press, 2017, 208pp., $55.00 (hbk), ISBN 9780190673383.

Reviewed by Bradford Cokelet, University of Kansas

This clear, engaging book proposes a manifest care account of inner virtue and vice — an account explaining when and why inner states such as pleasure, pain, envy, and gratitude make us better or worse people. As far as I know, this is the only contemporary book devoted to the topic of inner virtue, and Bommarito admirably establishes it as an important and interesting one. In addition, it is worth noting that this book will appeal to non-philosophic and even non-academic audiences; the engaging style and numerous entertaining examples will make it easy and fun for readers to think about various inner virtues and join the search for a general account.

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New Book: Makeham, ed., The Buddhist Roots of Zhu Xi’s Philosophical Thought

I’m very happy to announce the publication of John Makeham, ed., The Buddhist Roots of Zhu Xi’s Philosophical Thought (Oxford). This is the culmination of a multi-year collaborative project that it was my good fortune to be a part of; I am very grateful to John and to the group for the opportunity. Details from Oxford are here and from Amazon are here, and I’ll add some brief information below.

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Lecture on Buddhist Perfectionism and Kantian Liberalism

THE COLUMBIA SOCIETY FOR COMPARATIVE PHILOSOPHY

Welcomes: David Cummiskey (Bates College)

With a Response From: Carol Rovane (Columbia University)

Please join on us at Columbia University’s Religion Department on FRIDAY, May 11th at 5:30 PM for his lecture entitled:

Buddhist Perfectionism and Kantian Liberalism on Self-Constitution Continue reading →

Lau Reviews Nelson, Chinese and Buddhist Philosophy in Early Twentieth-Century German Thought

Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews

2018.04.10 View this Review Online   View Other NDPR Reviews

Eric Nelson, Chinese and Buddhist Philosophy in Early Twentieth-Century German Thought, Bloomsbury, 2017, 344 pp., $114.00, ISBN 9781350002555.

Reviewed by Kwok-ying Lau, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

In our present age of globalization, more and more people identify themselves as global citizens. To them, intercultural experience seems evident. Yet intercultural encounter in philosophy is still not yet a widely shared experience. This is particularly true in the West, where teaching and research in philosophy are organized basically in the same institutional setting as a century ago in which non-Western philosophies can hardly find their place. Seen in this context, Eric Nelson’s book has the great merit of drawing our attention to the experiences of some great forerunners in intercultural philosophy in Weimar Germany from the end of World War I to the rise of National Socialism in 1933. Nelson’s book is not merely a work on some historical episodes of intercultural philosophy but also a work showing the how of intercultural philosophy in itself.

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Call for Applications: Intensive Program in Buddhism

Call for Applications: An International and Intensive Program on Buddhism at Cambridge

August 20-September 10, 2018; Cambridge, United Kingdom

The Glorisun Global Network of Buddhist Studies at UBC, with the assistance from its partner at Cambridge and the Research Center for Buddhist Texts and Arts at Peking University, cordially invites applications for an intensive program on Buddhist Studies. Lasting for three weeks from August 20 to September 10, 2018, this program is composed of two segments: Segment 1 from August 20 to August 29 and Segment 2 from September 1 to September 10, which are connected by an intersegmental conference (detailed below).

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NCCU Sheng Yen Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chinese Buddhist Philosophy

National Chengchi University, Philosophy
NCCU Sheng Yen Postdoctoral Fellowship in Chinese Buddhist Philosophy, 2018-2019

With the generous support of the Sheng Yen Educational Foundation, the Research Group in Buddhist Philosophy at the National Chengchi University (NCCU) is pleased to invite applications for a postdoctoral research fellowship. The term of the appointment is August 1, 2018, to July 31, 2019.

Website: http://thinker.nccu.edu.tw/app/news.php?Sn=1651