A “landmark book” (Robert J. Sternberg, president of the American Psychological Association) by one of the world's preeminent psychologists that proves human behavior is not “hard-wired” but a function of culture. Everyone knows that while different cultures think about the world differently, they use the same equipment for doing their thinking. But what if everyone is wrong? The Geography of Thought documents Richard Nisbett's groundbreaking international research in cultural psychology and shows that people actually think about—and even see—the world differently because of differing ecologies, social structures, philosophies, and educational systems that date back to ancient Greece and China. As a result, East Asian thought is “holistic”—drawn to the perceptual field as a whole and to relations among objects and events within that field. By contrast, Westerners focus on salient objects or people, use attributes to assign them to categories, and apply rules of formal logic to understand their behavior. From feng shui to metaphysics, from comparative linguistics to economic history, a gulf separates the children of Aristotle from the descendants of Confucius. At a moment in history when the need for cross-cultural understanding and collaboration have never been more important, The Geography of Thought offers both a map to that gulf and a blueprint for a bridge that will span it.
Drawn from teachings of more than a hundred sages from three continents, Thinkers of the East is a book of enormous breadth and depth, the impact and vitality of which is characteristic of the Sufi emphasis on experience rather than theory.
"There is hardly any book equal to Ways of Thinking of Eastern Peoples in terms of its thorough and systematic presentation of the intricate thought patterns of Asian peoples. The book not only is an essential reference for the student of Asian culture, but also for students of philosophy, religion, anthropology, and art, as it is an excellent source for aiding the student in gaining a deeper understanding of each facet of Oriental thought." --Isshi Yamada, Northwestern University "The clearest discussion and analysis of these complex subjects that I have found. My advanced undergraduate students find this work to be 'stimulating', 'challenging' and comprehensible.' The organization of the text enhances the usefulness of this volume, but it is the high quality of the scholarship that makes Ways of Thinking a most valuable addition to Asian studies and to the academic training of upper division students." --Ann B. Radwan, University of North Florida "I find Ways of thinking a most provocative source for exploring with my students certain basic themes in Eastern religion and culture. Used carefully, it is a most stimulating and effective source for tapping Eastern 'ways' at a fundamental level of inquiry." --Wilbur M. Fridell, University of California, Santa Barbara
Style and level of discussion makes this an ideal intro to Western thought and the East: not philosophically dense. Said's classics `Orientalism' only discusses Islam: this covers all Eastern thought. Author has written extensively on Jung and the East, also taught in Singapore. Will appeal to non-specialists due to `history of ideas' approach: broad sweep.
Philosophy East and IVest EDITED BY CHARLES A. MOORE PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS 1946 TO GREGG M. SINCLAIR President of the University of Hawaii and ardent believer in the significance of the East for the West. His enthusiasm has created in all who have met him a lasting interest in the Orient. It was he who inspired the East-West Philosophers 9 Conference at which this vol ume had its inception, and who, through his encouragement and assistance, aided materi ally in its preparation and publication. Preface 1 HIS volume presents the results of the East-West Philosophers Conference held at the University of Hawaii during the summer of 1939. At this conference, representatives of Orient and Occident were brought together to investigate, through the mediums of per sonal contact, discussion, and formal papers, the meaning and sig nificance of the basic attitudes of these two major traditions. The conference was particularly concerned with the significance of the philosophy of the East for the West. The underlying purpose was to determine the possibility of a world philosophy through a syn thesis of the ideas and ideals of East and West, and to reach con clusions in the form of specific suggestions concerning the most fruitful ways in which such a synthesis could be effected. These conclusions, some of which may appear to be extreme and contro versial but all of which are highly provocative and upon which the several writers do not always agree are here presented in complete detail. Among these is the constant theme that neither. Orient nor Occident is philosophically self-sufficient, each lacking that total perspective which is characteristic of philosophy. Specif ically, it is held that the West needs new and wider perspectives, and that the East in addition to its Inevitable practical influence upon the West in the future may provide inspiration as well as specific doctrines for this new Renaissance. In general, the plan of the conference which appears in the form and the content of this volume called for comprehensive, though brief, descriptions of the basic systems and doctrines of the East, primarily by Oriental scholars, and analyses of these attitudes in comparison with the basic traditions of the West, by Western representatives. The constant interchange of ideas in discussion, resulting in the removal of false or inadequate inter pretations of the East by Western representatives and the achieve ment of a greater mutual understanding, is reflected many times in this study. This aspect of the volume, and the fact that it includes personal representatives of both East and West, make it a unique chapter in the history of comparative philosophy. For the purposes of this study, the East consists primarily of India, China, and Japan. Unfortunately no Indian scholar was Vlii PREFACE available for the conference and so India is not personally rep resented here this deficiency is mitigated, however, by the wide knowledge of Indian thought possessed by members of the con ference. The volume has the advantage, however especially in view of current developments of a comprehensive analysis of the several phases of Japanese thought. We were especially privi leged to have at the conference the outstanding Buddhist authority, Professor Junjiro Takakusu. Last-minute emergencies prevented Professors W. E. Hocking and D. T. Suzuki, who have chapters here, from attending the conference. The style of chapter construction and documentation shows some variation throughout the book. Also, some duplication in content will be noticed in the several chapters. Suffice it to say that no ironclad rule of uniformity of style or overstrict limitation of sub ject matter was considered imperative. Transliteration of names and terms from the Sanskrit, Chinese, and Japanese inevitably presents difficulties. The system adopted allows for occasional varia tions from the basic method used for the text as a whole...
In this highly insightful analysis of Western and Chinese concepts of efficacy, François Jullien subtly delves into the metaphysical preconceptions of the two civilizations to account for diverging patterns of action in warfare, politics, and diplomacy. He shows how Western and Chinese strategies work in several domains (the battlefield, for example) and analyzes two resulting acts of war. The Chinese strategist manipulates his own troops and the enemy to win a battle without waging war and to bring about victory effortlessly. Efficacity in China is thus conceived of in terms of transformation (as opposed to action) and manipulation, making it closer to what is understood as efficacy in the West. Jullien’s brilliant interpretations of an array of recondite texts are key to understanding our own conceptions of action, time, and reality in this foray into the world of Chinese thought. In its clear and penetrating characterization of two contrasting views of reality from a heretofore unexplored perspective, A Treatise on Efficacy will be of central importance in the intellectual debate between East and West.
Marietta Stepaniants' introductory text allows a distinctively Eastern way of thinking to come forth. Four interpretive essays open the book showing how Indian, Chinese and Islamic traditions responded to these questions: How did philosophy arise? What is the origin of order in the universe? What is human nature? What is truth? A fifth, unique, essay shows how Eastern thought has dealt with Western contact in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the second half of the book, original writings—ancient and modern—are placed in their cultural context by the author and give access to the thinkers' specific arguments. Unlike any other text, Introduction to Eastern Thought includes Islamic philosophies alongside Indian and Chinese traditions. This broader sense of 'the East,' the combination of interpretive essays and original sources, the sense of Eastern philosophies as alive and ongoing, are unrivalled by any other textbook. Comparisons within and across traditions make Introduction to Eastern Thought an excellent text for students familiar with Western philosophy or beginning philosophy students.
Understanding Eastern Philosophy provides an accessible critical introduction to how some of the key philosophies of the East compare with those in the West. Starting from a discussion of the problems of distinguishing between religions and philosophies, Ray Billington presents a clear picture of the key tenets behind Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Jainism and Confucianism. Moving on to compare the key themes of religious philosophy that cut across East and West, such as a belief in God, the soul, moral decision-making, nature and authority, Understanding Eastern Philosophy presents a fascinating and controversial picture of the contribution theistic religions have to make. With its belief in a personal God bestowing a particular version of 'truth', Ray Billington concludes that the universal mysticism characteristic of Eastern thought provides a more realistic and rewarding path than is commonly supposed in the West. Understanding Eastern Philosophy assumes no prior knowledge of religion or philosophy.
With this book we see a philosopher well steeped in the Western tradition thinking through ancient Eastern disciplines, meditating on what it means to learn to breathe, and urging us all at the dawn of a new century to rediscover indigenous Asian cultures. Yogic tradition, according to Irigaray, can provide an invaluable means for restoring the vital link between the present and eternity—and for re-envisioning the patriarchal traditions of the West. Western, logocentric rationality tends to abstract the teachings of yoga from its everyday practice—most importantly, from the cultivation of breath. Lacking actual, personal experience with yoga or other Eastern spiritual practices, the Western philosophers who have tried to address Hindu and Buddhist teachings—particularly Schopenhauer—have frequently gone astray. Not so, Luce Irigaray. Incorporating her personal experience with yoga into her provocative philosophical thinking on sexual difference, Irigaray proposes a new way of understanding individuation and community in the contemporary world. She looks toward the indigenous, pre-Aryan cultures of India—which, she argues, have maintained an essentially creative ethic of sexual difference predicated on a respect for life, nature, and the feminine. Irigaray's focus on breath in this book is a natural outgrowth of the attention that she has given in previous books to the elements—air, water, and fire. By returning to fundamental human experiences—breathing and the fact of sexual difference—she finds a way out of the endless sociologizing abstractions of much contemporary thought to rethink questions of race, ethnicity, and globalization.
