Understanding Asian Philosophy

Understanding Asian Philosophy introduces the four major Asian traditions through their key texts and thinkers: the Analects of Confucius, the Daoist text Zhuangzi, the early Buddhist Suttas, and the Bhagavad Gita. Approached through the central issue of ethical development, this engaging introduction reveals the importance of moral self-cultivation and provides a firm grounding in the origins of Asian thought. Leading students confidently through complex texts, Understanding Asian Philosophy includes a range of valuable features: brief biographies of main thinkers such as Confucius and Zhuangzi primary source material and translations maps and timelines comprehensive lists of recommended reading and links to further study resources relevant philosophical questions at the end of each chapterAs well as sections on other texts and thinkers in the tradition, there are frequent references to contemporary examples and issues. Each chapter also discusses other thinkers in different traditions in the West, presenting various comparative approaches. With its clear focus on thinkers and texts, Understanding Asian Philosophy is an ideal undergraduate introduction to Chinese, Indian, Buddhist and Daoist thought.

Introduction: Ethical Philosophy in Asian TraditionsKinds of philosophyEthical theoriesAsian traditionsSelf-cultivation in Asian philosophical traditions-the layout of the bookPart I: Ethics and Self-Cultivation in Ancient ChinaEarly Chinese Philosophy: Map and Timeline1. The Analects of Confucius1.1The Life and Legacy of Confucius and the Analects1.2 Social Harmony1.3 The "Humane" Person and the "Rites"1.4 The Virtues of the Family and Community1.5 A Life of Learning 1.6 The Ideal Person1.7- Later Confucianism1.8 Further Resources on Confucianism and Self-Cultivation1.9 A Short Biography of ConfuciusRelevant Questions2. Zhuangzi and the Daoist Tradition2.1 Yangism, the Daodejing, Zhuang Zhou, and the Retreat from Society2.2 The perspective of the dao2.3 "Fasting of the mind" and "listening ridiculously"2.4 The use of the useless2.5 Delighting in "The transformation of the myriad things," what we truly are, and freedom from suffering2.6 Later Daoism 2.6 Further resources on Zhuangzi and self-cultivation2.7 A Short Biography of ZhuangziRelevant QuestionsPart II: Ethics and Self-Cultivation in Ancient IndiaEarly Indian Philosophy: Map and Timeline3. The Suttas, Dhammapada, and the Early Buddhist Tradition3.1 The Buddha and the Early Buddhist tradition3.2 Suffering and the eightfold path3.3 Controlling the mind3.4 The role of compassion and moral conduct3.5 The role of wisdom and the insubstantiality of the "self"3.6 The enlightened person and nirvana3.7 Later Buddhism a. Early Mahayana b. Madhyamaka c. Chan/Zen d. Pure Land e. Tantrayana3.8 Further resources on Buddhism and self-cultivation3.9 A Short Biography of Siddhartha Gautama, The BuddhaRelevant Questions4. The Message of the Bhagavad Gita4.1 The Background--Vedas, Vedanta, and the Mahabharata4.2 The crisis of choice4.3 Sacred duty and the fruits of action4.4 Discipline--knowledge, action, and devotion4.5 The living universe--Krishna's revelation and its impact4.6 The yogi, the realized soul a. Advaita and Dvaita b. Devotional schools; Vaishnava c. Gandhi's allegorical reading4.7 Further resources on the Gita and self-cultivation4.8 A Short Biography of Vyasa and ShankaraRelevant QuestionsConclusion: New Directions in ScholarshipAnnotated BibliographyIndex