Description
Scitus Academics Llc Buddhism A Contemporary Philosophical Investigation by Yahui Jiang Lee
Recent years have seen a growing interest in Buddhist thought as a potential
source of alternative conceptions of the nature of the mind and the relation
between the mental and the physical. There is a long tradition in the West to
regard Buddhism as a philosophy. This tradition was started by Enlightenment
philosophers (those who like rational thinking so much) who saw in
Buddhism an ancient religion which fit their ideal of a rational way of life.
Buddhists assume that mental states can be both reportable events in phenomenal
consciousness and have a ‘background’ causal influence on our
experience and behavior of which we are not immediately aware but need
meditation and reflection to uncover.
Buddhism: A Contemporary Philosophical Investigation offers comprehensive
studies and critical approaches on contemporary Buddhism to new
directions in Buddhist Studies all over the world. It examines the historical,
doctrinal, literary, social, political, developments that have formed contemporary
versions of Buddhism, East and West. In all this Buddhism is predicated
as an inhabited and relevant action-influencing worldview. This Monograph
will investigate what the nature of mental states must be like to admit
these possibilities and will examine whether Buddhist philosophies of mind
are adequate to the task. The text has been conceived as an interdisciplinary
discussion for the analysis and critical evaluation of the contribution of
Buddhism to the emergence of a global culture. It will promote enquiry into
and critical reflection upon the historical, doctrinal and political developments
formative of contemporary Buddhism; the recent appropriations of
the Buddhist traditions in Asia and the West; the self-understanding of these
traditions and their mutual relations; and the dialogue between Buddhism
and other world spiritual traditions. At the same time it develops a careful,
probing analysis of the nature and practical dynamics of Buddhist ethics in
both its unifying themes and in the particularities of different Buddhist traditions.
The book applies Buddhist ethics to a range of issues of contemporary
concern. This Book is aimed at anyone interested in Buddhism, including
students, scholars and general readers.