Asian Philosophies and the Idea of Religion: Beyond Faith and Reason (Routledge Studies in Religion)

With a focus on Asian traditions, this book examines varieties of thought and self-transformative practice that do not fit neatly on one side or another of the standard Western division between philosophy and religion. It contains chapters by experts on Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, Hindu and Jain philosophies, as well as ancient Greek philosophy and recent contemplative and spiritual movements. The volume also problematizes the notion of a Western philosophical canon distinguished by rationality in contrast to a religious Eastern “other”. These original essays creatively lay the groundwork needed to rethink dominant historical and conceptual categories from a wider perspective to arrive at a deeper, more plural and global understanding of the diverse nature of both philosophy and religion. The volume will be of keen interest to scholars and students in the philosophy of religion, Asian and comparative philosophy and religious studies. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Series 3 Title 4 Copyright 5 Contents 6 List of contributors 8 1 Introduction 10 2 Aspiration, conviction, and serene joy: faith and reason in Indian Buddhist literature on the path 22 3 Faith and/or/as enlightenment: rethinking religion from the perspective of Japanese Buddhism 45 4 Faith and its derivatives: knowledge, conduct and liberation in Jainism 74 5 Enlightening the unEnlightened: the exclusion of Advaita Vedānta from the Western philosophical canon 85 6 Ruism and the category of religion: or, what to do about the Confucians? 115 7 Faith, reason, and the paradox of wu-wei in the Zhuangzi 134 8 Medium of many messages: roles of aesthetic discourse in religion and philosophy 156 9 Trusting the daimonion: faith and reason in the case of Socrates and beyond 186 10 Reason and faith on the path to the transcendent in Plotinus 202 11 Thoughtful seekers among the “spiritual but not religious” 218 12 Between faith and reason: feminist contemplative pedagogy 236 13 An immanent world of wonder: nonreligion and emerging worldviews 254 Index 273