73 research outputs found
A Zhuangzian Ethic of Openness and Hospitality for Contemporary Filipino Society
Get PDFIn this article, I wish to show that Dr. Agustin Rodriguez’s idea of how government institutions in Philippine society should practice “hospitality” towards the marginalized Other, resonates with and can be complemented by a personal ethic of openness and hospitality drawn from the Daoist workZhuangzi. According to Rodriguez, poor Filipinos living in urban areas, tend to be misunderstood and marginalized by the rest of the well-to-do class. The reason for this is that these poor live out an alternative rationality or way of life as compared to that of the elite. This marginalized rationalityfinds it difficult to fit in the systems and institutions of the city, which belong to the dominant elite rationality. For Rodriguez, this state of affairs is unjust and cannot continue if Philippine society is ever to achieve wholeness. He thus recommends that the governmental institutions of the country practicehospitality towards the marginalized Other. This means that these institutions should provide space for the Other to be genuinely heard and be given a chance to substantially affect social policy. Now, the Zhuangzi also promotes openness and accommodation to the unconventional, and I believe that this can complement Rodriguez’s notion of hospitality. Specifically, I believe that whereas Rodriguez’s hospitality applies to the institutional level, Zhuangzian openness and hospitality applies to the personal level, or to the level of an individual’s own attitude and dispositions
Acting without regarding: Daoist self-cultivation as education for non-dichotomous thinking
No full textSustaining Temporal Peace: A Worldview for Sustainable Living Inspired by Saint Augustine’s Philosophy
Get PDFMy paper aims to use the philosophical resources of Saint Augustine’s thought, particularly as found in the City of God, in order to sketch a basic worldview which can educate and lead people towards living lives that promote sustainable development. Specifically, I wish to show how Saint Augustine’s concepts of order, rightly ordered love, and temporal peace can serve as material to create a rough metaphysical framework in which human beings are understood to be an integrated part of a greater whole which is the earth. The ethical corollary of this framework is that human beings should act in such a way that does not damage this greater whole but rather preserves its order and integrity. In doing this, I also hope to show that Saint Augustine’s thought can still have relevance for contemporary issues
The Dao Admits of No Admixture: Mysticism and Moral Realism in Zhuangzi\u27s Writings
Get PDFRecent philosophical scholarship tends to cast Zhuangzi’s philosophy as promoting moral relativism. This is especially true with Chad Hansen’s interpretation of Zhuangzi’s writings. This article seeks to challenge this dominant relativist reading by showing that such a reading does not align with the numerous normative and evaluative remarks that can be found in Zhuangzi’s work. Furthermore, this article aims to show that it is more plausible that Zhuangzi’s metaethical view is that of moral realism instead of moral relativism. This is because a moral realist interpretation of Zhuangzi’s philosophy fits more, not only with the aforesaid evaluative and normative remarks of Zhuangzi’s writings, but also with the mystical elements found in the same writings
The Philosophy of Mencius as a Way of Life: A Rapport between Mencian Confucianism and Pierre Hadot’s Conception of Philosophy
Get PDFThis article shows how Pierre Hadot’s idea of philosophy as a way of life can be applied to Confucian philosophy. Specifically I will show how the philosophy of the Confucian thinker Mencius has two characteristics that are indicative of a philosophy that is a way of life. For Hadot, Ancient Greco-Roman philosophical schools were mainly concerned, not with philosophical discourse, but with changing their students’ way of living. Based on Mencius’ own words, it can be inferred that he also believed that his philosophizing was mainly about transforming people, and that he treated philosophical discourse as ancillary to this. Furthermore, Hadot believed that “spiritual exercises” were employed by Ancient GrecoRoman philosophical schools to precisely help transform the lives of their aspirants. He divides these spiritual exercises into two phases. The first is “Concentration of the I” where the aspirant ceases to identify with his conventional and vicious self. This leads to the second phase, namely, “Expansion of the I” where the aspirant becomes free to identify with the whole of reality. I suggest that spiritual exercises, or something similar, can also be seen in Mencius’ teachings. In particular, Mencius’ activity of “reflection and extension” can be considered a kind of “Concentration of the I,” whereas his intimation of attaining unity with Heaven and the world through cultivating qi, can be understood as a kind of “Expansion of the I.
Sustaining Temporal Peace: A Worldview for Sustainable Living Inspired by Saint Augustine\u27s Philosophy
Get PDFMy paper aims to use the philosophical resources of Saint Augustine’s thought, particularly as found in the City of God, in order to sketch a basic worldview which can educate and lead people towards living lives that promote sustainable development. Specifically, I wish to show how Saint Augustine’s concepts of order, rightly ordered love, and temporal peace can serve as material to create a rough metaphysical framework in which human beings are understood to be an integrated part of a greater whole which is the earth. The ethical corollary of this framework is that human beings should act in such a way that does not damage this greater whole but rather preserves its order and integrity. In doing this, I also hope to show that Saint Augustine’s thought can still have relevance for contemporary issues
<i>Shu</i> and <i>z</i><i>hong</i> as the virtue of the Golden Rule: a Confucian contribution to contemporary virtue ethics
No full textTeaching Ibn Sina\u27s Proof for God\u27s Existence
Get PDFThese notes provide a summary of Ibn Sina’s proof of God’s existence as a way of promoting the use of such proof in online philosophy classes, particularly, Philosophy of Religion. Ibn Sina’s proof has advantages over its more traditional counterparts taught in Philosophy of Religion, such as Anselm’s ontological argument and Aquinas’s cosmological one. First, it can be taught more quickly than the latter two because it is stated explicitly (unlike Anselm’s in his Proslogion) and it is only one argument (unlike Aquinas’ Quinque Viae). Second, it can give students a greater appreciation of religions besides Christianity, because it is contextualized in the Islamic faith. Third, an idea that the proof alludes to resonates with Buddhism’s “Dependent Co-Arising.” Fourth, Ibn Sina’s proof, which attempts to argue how God must be numerically one and simple, but does not discuss why God must be good, can be a jumping-off point for discussing God’s relation with moral goodness and evil. and ultimately to the problem of evil
Sustaining Temporal Peace: A Worldview for Sustainable Living Inspired by Saint Augustine’s Philosophy
Get PDFMy paper aims to use the philosophical resources of Saint Augustine’s thought, particularly as found in the City of God, in order to sketch a basic worldview which can educate and lead people towards living lives that promote sustainable development. Specifically, I wish to show how Saint Augustine’s concepts of order, rightly ordered love, and temporal peace can serve as material to create a rough metaphysical framework in which human beings are understood to be an integrated part of a greater whole which is the earth. The ethical corollary of this framework is that human beings should act in such a way that does not damage this greater whole but rather preserves its order and integrity. In doing this, I also hope to show that Saint Augustine’s thought can still have relevance for contemporary issues
The Dao Admits of No Admixture: Mysticism and Moral Realism in Zhuangzi’s Writings
Get PDFRecent philosophical scholarship tends to cast Zhuangzi’s philosophy as promoting moral relativism. This is especially true with Chad Hansen’s interpretation of Zhuangzi’s writings. This article seeks to challenge this dominant relativist reading by showing that such a reading does not align with the numerous normative and evaluative remarks that can be found in Zhuangzi’s work. Furthermore, this article aims to show that it is more plausible that Zhuangzi’s metaethical view is that of moral realism instead of moral relativism. This is because a moral realist interpretation of Zhuangzi’s philosophy fits more, not only with the aforesaid evaluative and normative remarks of Zhuangzi’s writings, but also with the mystical elements found in the same writings
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