Frontiers of Japanese Philosophy by James W. Heisig

16 The Kyoto School: Transformations Over Three Generations. 15 The Japanese Encounter with and Appropriation of Western Philosophy. 14 Bushidō and Philosophy: Parting the Clouds, Seeking the Way. 13 Ancient Learning: The Japanese Revival of Classical Confucianism. PART III Philosophies of Japanese Confucianism and Bushidō. Suzuki, Hisamatsu Shin’ichi, and Masao Abe. 10 Rinzai Zen Kōan Training: Philosophical Intersections. 9 Dōgen on the Language of Creative Textual Hermeneutics. 8 The Philosophy of Zen Master Dōgen: Egoless Perspectivism. 7 Modern Pure Land Thinkers: Kiyozawa Manshi and Soga Ryōjin. 6 Philosophical Dimensions of Shinran’s Pure Land Buddhist Path.

5 Kūkai’s Shingon: Embodiment of Emptiness. 4 Saichō’s Tendai: In the Middle of Form and Emptiness. PART II Philosophies of Japanese Buddhism. 3 National Learning: Poetic Emotionalism and Nostalgic Nationalism.

1 Prince Shōtoku’s Constitution and the Synthetic Nature of Japanese Thought. PART I Shintō and the Synthetic Nature of Japanese Philosophical Thought. The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy. “some Japanese philosophers have been eager to graft the newly introduced discipline of western academic philosophy onto its premodern Japanese antecedents.Table of contents : Cover.

By understanding the projects of critical, systematic thinkers, we are better equipped to uncover the premises and rules of reasoning that inform their answers.”

To do so, the most important thinkers to study are those who develop systematic philosophical articulations rather than ad hoc solutions to particular isolated issues. We can only judge how good a philosophical answer is after we are sure we have understood the question the answer is addressing. Rather, the challenge is to understand the context and rules of philosophizing in a variety of sometimes radically different environments. There is no a priori reason, therefore, to say that philosophy is limited to the way it has been construed in any one cultural context, whether it be the classical cultures of the Mediterranean basin or the modern cultures of the so-called western world. “Moreover, philosophizing-if by that we broadly mean the critical investigation of deeply perplexing questions, such as what is the best way to live, what is true and how can we best know it, and what are our obligations to one another-is a widespread and perhaps even universal phenomenon, especially among highly literate cultures.

Frontiers of Japanese Philosophy by James W. Heisig