The contributions to
Concepts of Philosophy in Asia and the Islamic World reflect upon the problems implied in the received notions of philosophy in the respective scholarly literatures. They ask whether, and for what reasons, a text should be categorized as a philosophical text (or excluded from the canon of philosophy), and what this means for the concept of philosophy. The focus on texts and textual corpora is central because it makes authors expose their claims and arguments in direct relation to specific sources, and discourages generalized reflections on the characteristics of, for example, Japanese culture or the Indian mind. The volume demonstrates that close and historically informed readings are the
sine qua non in discussing what philosophy is in Asia and the Islamic world, just as much as with regard to Western literature
Contributors are Yoko Arisaka, Wolfgang Behr, Thomas Fröhlich, Lisa Indraccolo, Paulus Kaufmann, Iso Kern, Ralf Müller, Gregor Paul, Lisa Raphals, Fabian Schäfer, Ori Sela, Rafael Suter, Christian Uhl, Viatcheslav Vetrov, Yvonne Schulz Zinda, and Nicholas Zufferey.
Raji C. Steineck, Ph.D. (1999), Bonn University, is Professor of Japanology at the University of Zurich. He has published extensively on Japanese intellectual history and philosophy and pursues a long-term project on the
Critique of Symbolic Forms (Frommann-Holzboog 2014, 2017).
Ralph Weber, Ph.D. (2007), University of St. Gallen, is Assistant Professor for European Global Studies at the University of Basel. His publications focus on Chinese and comparative philosophy as well as methodological and conceptual aspects of translinguistic and transcultural research.
Elena Louisa Lange, Ph.D. (2011), University of Zurich, is Senior Researcher and Lecturer in Japanology at the University of Zurich. Her current research is on the reception of Marx's Critique of Political Economy. Her publishing focuses mostly on value theory.
Robert H. Gassmann is Professor emeritus of Sinology at Zurich University (Switzerland). He presided the Swiss Asia Society and was chief-editor of the quarterly
Asiatische Studien/Etudes Asiatiques. His fields of interest were language, history, and thought of Early China.
Contents
Part 1: China
Introduction: ‘What is Chinese Philosophy?’ Ralph Weber and Robert H. Gassmann A Preliminary Overview of the Genealogy of zhexue in China, 1888-1930 Ori Sela On the Early Marxist Concept of Philosophy in the PRC (1930s–1950s) Yvonne Schulz Zinda Reviewing the Crisis of the Study of Chinese Philosophy – Starting from the ‘Legitimacy of Chinese Philosophy’ Debates Lee Ming-huei ‘Self-Refutation’ (bèi) in Early Chinese Argumentative Prose: Sidelights on the Linguistic Prehistory of Incipient Philosophy Wolfgang Behr Philosophy? (Re)appreciating Squire Mèng and the Mèngzǐ Robert H. Gassmann The Zhuangzi on ming: Perspectives and Implications Lisa Raphals Philosophy in the Clothes of History: The Case of the Book of the Later Han (Hou Hanshu) Nicholas Zufferey The ‘Wirkungsgeschichte’ of Wang Yangming’s ‘Teaching in Four Propositions’ up to Liu Zongzhou and Huang Zongxi Iso Kern Moving the Target to Catch an Arrow: Qian Zhongshu’s View of Analogies and Metaphors in Philosophical Reasoning Viatcheslav Vetrov ‘New Confucianism’ and the Sinicization of Metaphysics and Transcendentalism: Conceptualizations of Philosophy in the Early Works of Xiong Shili and Mou Zongsan Rafael Suter ‘Philosophy’ Reconsidered: The Theological Accentuation in Tang Junyi’s Modern Confucianism Thomas Fröhlich Philosophy? – On Tu Weiming’s ‘The Continuity of Being’ (1984) Ralph Weber
Part 2: Japan
Introduction: ‘What is Japanese Philosophy’? Ralph Weber and Robert H. Gassmann Kūkaiʼs 空海 (774-835) Philosophy of Language Reflections on the Usage of the Word ‘Philosophy’ Gregor Paul Form and Content in Kūkai’s Shōjijissōgi Paulus Kaufmann Philosophy and the Practice of Reflexivity On Dōgen’s Discourse about Buddha-Nature Ralf Müller A Zen Philosopher? – Notes on the Philosophical Reading of Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō Raji C. Steineck Ogyū Sorai and the End of Philosophy Paulus Kaufmann Towards a Critical Public Sphere: Tosaka Jun on Philosophical Journalism and Journalistic Philosophy Fabian Schäfer What is Philosophy?: The Use and Abuse of Universalism in Modern Japanese Philosophy Yoko Arisaka What is Philosophy? On Globalizing Capitalism, the Modern Order of Knowledge, and the Spread of Philosophy to Japan Christian Uhl
Index
All interested in the philosophy and the intellectual histories of China and Japan.