Первое российское энциклопедическое издание, посвященное философии буддизма, является самым полным в отечественной литературе сводом знаний о буддийской философии. Его главная цель - описать философское кредо буддизма в контексте разнообразия школ.

v. 1. Indii︠a︡ -- v. 2. Blizhniĭ i Sredniĭ Vostok -- v. 3. Kitaĭ.

The golden mean metaphor is suggested as a key to understanding the universal and the particular in moral philosophy since finding metaphorical links provides a way of seeing different traditions in a manner that does not erect absolute boundaries. The choice of the golden mean is made keeping in mind that all cultures recognize the worth of moderation. The prime reason for that lies in human nature which sets human beings apart from all the other living creatures by a goal-oriented (...) activity. As a rational being endowed with will, a human person cannot move toward a goal without adopting a certain strategy of actions. An instinct for self-preservation and astute prudence, personal experience and that of one's own ancestors are all prompting a human being to moderate and commensurate in dispositions and actions for an optimal attainment of the goals. Yet, the same principle is concretized in a particular cultural context (Ancient Greek, Indian, Chinese, Muslim and Russian cases are considered). Along with cultural distinctions, situational, temporal factors are of importance: much depends on whether it is the human person guided by own free will or a certain driving force, public, government, etc., outside and above defines the content of the golden mean. (shrink)

The decisive victory of the Arabs over the Iranians put an end to Zoroastrian Iran and brought it into the Arab Caliphate in 651. However, the "indirect meeting" of Islam and Zoroastrianism had taken place centuries before through the impact of Zoroaster's teaching on Judaism, Christianity, and the religion of the Muslims. Although the "direct encounter" resulted in the virtual disappearance of Zoroastrianism from Iran, it nonetheless brought about a certain synthesis of the two spiritual traditions--most visible in two classical (...) schools of Islamic thought: the mystical trend of Sufism and the Illuminationism of Ishrāqism. Whether Zoroastrianism is still culturally alive, and what its future prospects may be are discussed here. (shrink)

Recent history makes clear that the quantum leaps being made in technology are the leading edge of a groundswell of paradigm shifts taking place in science, politics, economics, social institutions, and the expression of cultural values. Indeed it is the simultaneity and interdependence of these changes occurring in every dimension of human experience and endeavor that makes the present so historically distinctive. The essays gathered here give voice to perspectives on the always improvised relationship between technology and cultural values from (...) Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, Europe, and the Pacific. Contributors: Syed Muhammad Naquib Al-Attas, Roger T. Ames,Yoko Arisaka, Carl Becker, Francesca Bray, James Buchanan, Arindam Chakrabarti, Frank W. Derringh, Rolf Elberfeld, Charles Ess, Andrew Feenberg, Susantha Goonatilake, H. Jiuan Heng, Peter Hershock, Thomas P. Kasulis, George Khushf, David Farrell Krell, Joel J. Kupperman, William R. LaFleur, Lois Ann Lorentzen, David Loy, Joseph Margolis, Hans-Georg Möller, Robert Cummings Neville, Peimin Ni, Monica Atieno Opole, Kuruvilla Pandikattu SJ, Helen Petrovsky, Ramon Sentmartí, Kristin Shrader-Frechette, Vasanthi Srinivasan, Marietta Stepaniants, Vyacheslav S. Stiopin, Henk ten Have, Paul B.Thompson, Mary Tiles, David B.Wong. (shrink)

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. Comparisons within and across traditions makeIntroduction to Eastern Thought an (...) excellent text for students familiar with Western philosophy or beginning philosophy students. (shrink)

The Soviet teaching of philosophy violated the cardinal rule that one must think for oneself. The negative aspects of the teaching of philosophy in the USSR were the consequence of the Soviet sociopolitical system and a characteristic tendency in Russian society to subordinate philosophy to pragmatism. Recently, changes in philosophy teaching are seen as a sign of liberation from pragmatic ideology and a revival of philosophy's original purpose as the quest for truth.

This article is about the materiality of difference, about race, sex and sexual differences among others. To find out about these differences and their materialities, this article looks not into bodies but rather at how bodies are positioned in spaces and how they are enacted in practice. In the first part of the article, the focus is on the relationality of identities and how they are made and unmade in specific practices. The second part of the article attends to the (...) various histories and practices that are drawn together in one specific body and how they help to enact a particular version of the body. Differences, it is argued, are not given ‘entities’ out there, awaiting dis-covery; rather they are effects that come about in relational practices. This indicates that materiality is not simply a given that can be taken on board, but it is the very configuration through which differences can be articulated. (shrink)