The Topos of Mu and the Predicative Self: The Kyoto School and Western Eco-philosophy
Time: March 7, 2018 1pm – 2:15pm
Location: Gross Hall 230E (Duke University West Campus)
Abstract: Japanese Buddhism and the Japanese language de-emphasize the subjective self, so deeply rooted in the Western worldview from Pythagoras to Paul the Apostle to Paul Ricoeur. The analogue to the predicative self in contemporary eco-philosophy is a relational sense of self first clearly stated by Arne Naess. The danger of the predicative/relational self is nationalism and fascism, exemplified by WATSUJI Tetsurō. The universalism of a scientific grounding of the predicative/relational self in ecology and ethology, exemplified by Aldo Leopold and IMANISHI Kinji, respectively is the antidote.
Sponsored by the Center for Comparative Philosophy and the Global Asia Initiative
Lunch provided.