1st Edition
Environmental Philosophy and East Asia Nature, Time, Responsibility
This book explores the contributions of East Asian traditions, particularly Buddhism and Daoism, to environmental philosophy in dialogue with European philosophy. It critically examines the conceptions of human responsibility toward nature and across time presented within these traditions.
The volume rethinks human relationships to the natural world by focusing on three main themes: Daoist and Eurodaoist perspectives on nature, human responsibility toward nature, and Buddhist perspectives on life and nature. By way of discussing East Asian traditions and European thinkers, this collection reveals that the impact of humanity on the environment is shaped not only by distinctive modes of economic production, but also by cultural beliefs and practices. Representing a unique constellation of environmental and intercultural philosophy, the contributions present systematic approaches to the global need for cultivating environmental responsibility across cultures and generations to address the political, ethical, and aesthetic challenges arising from humanity’s transformative impact on the natural world.
Presenting a critical re-evaluation of human relationships to the natural world in dialogue with East Asian traditions, this will be a valuable resource for students and scholars of Philosophy, Environmental Studies and Asian Studies.
Part 1: Daoist and Eurodaoist Perspectives on Nature, Responsibility and Critique
1. Nature and Dao in Huanglao Boshu
David Chai
2. Eurodaoism and the Environment
Mario Wenning
3. Heidegger's Dao and the Sources of Critique
Matthias Fritsch
4. How to Inhabit the Best of All Possible Worlds? Environmental Responsibility in the Light of Leibniz’s Conception of Time
Sabine Baldin
Part 2: Buddhist Perspectives on Freedom, Life and Nature
5. What is Oriental Liberalism?
Hiroshi Abe
6. Emptying Ecology: Chan Buddhist Antinomianism and Environmental Ethics
Eric Nelson
7. Modification of Life Awareness and Its Poetic Expressions in Japanese Literature
Masataka Furusho
Part 3: Rethinking Time and Human Responsibility toward Nature
8. In Spite of Nature and With Time: Freedom and Responsibility. Two Kantian Spells and Their Possible Refutation
Thomas Buchheim
9. "The Person-Affecting Claim, Non-Identity Problem, and Future Generations
Rui Han
10. The Deep Layers of Responsibility or Anti-Nature in Nature
Ryosuke Ohashi
11. Corporeality in an Ecologically Oriented Aesthetics of Nature
Zhuofei Wang
Biography
Hiroshi Abe is Professor of Philosophy and Logic at the Graduate School of Human and Environmental Studies at Kyoto University, Japan.
Matthias Fritsch is Professor of Philosophy at Concordia University, Canada.
Mario Wenning is Professor at Loyola University Andalusia, Spain.
