Environmental Philosophy in Asian Traditions of Thought

Seminal essays on environmental philosophy from Indian, Chinese, and Japanese traditions of thought. Environmental Philosophy in Asian Traditions of Thought provides a welcome sequel to the foundational volume in Asian environmental ethics Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought. That volume, edited by J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames and published in 1989, inaugurated comparative environmental ethics, adding Asian thought on the natural world to the developing field of environmental philosophy. This new book, edited by Callicott and James McRae, includes some of the best articles in environmental philosophy from the perspective of Asian thought written more recently, some of which appear in print for the first time. Leading scholars draw from the Indian, Chinese, and Japanese traditions of thought to provide a normative ethical framework that can address the environmental challenges being faced in the twenty-first century. Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist approaches are considered along with those of Zen, Japanese Confucianism, and the contemporary philosophy of the Kyoto School. An investigation of environmental philosophy in these Asian traditions not only challenges Western assumptions, but also provides an understanding of Asian philosophy, religion, and culture that informs contemporary environmental law and policy. J. Baird Callicott is University Distinguished Research Professor of Philosophy at the University of North Texas and author and editor of many books, including Beyond the Land Ethic: More Essays in Environmental Philosophy, also published by SUNY Press. James McRae is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Westminster College in Missouri. He is the coeditor (with Robert Arp and Adam Barkman) of The Philosophy of Ang Lee. Environment and environmental philosophy in India / George Alfred James Atman, identity, and emanation : arguments for a Hindu environmental ethic / Christopher Framarin Gandhi's contributions to environmental thought and action / Bart Gruzalski Acting with compassion : Buddhism, feminism and the environmental crisis / Stephanie Kaza Against holism : rethinking Buddhist environmental ethics / Simon P. James Causation and "telos" : the problem of Buddhist environmental ethics / Ian Harris The relevance of Chinese neo-Confucianism for the reverence of nature / Mary Evelyn Tucker Beyond naturalism : a reconstruction of Daoist environmental ethics / R.P. Peerenboom Conceptual foundations for environmental ethics : a Daoist perspective / Karyn L. Lai Process ecology and the "ideal" dao / Alan Fox The viability (dao) and virtuosity (de) of Daoist ecology : reversion (fu) as renewal / Sandra A. Wawrytko Envisioning the Daoist body in the economy of cosmic power / James Miller The Japanese concept of nature in relation to the environmental ethics and conservation aesthetics of Aldo Leopold / Steve Odin Dogen, deep ecology, and the ecological self / Deane Curtin Conservation ethics and the Japanese intellectual tradition / David Edward Shaner and R. Shannon Duval From symbiosis (kyosei) to the ontology of "arising both from oneself and from another" / Hiroshi Abe The Confucian environmental ethics of Ogyu Sorai / Tomosaburo Yamauchi Triple negation : Watsuji Tetsuro on the sustainability of ecosystems, economies, and international peace / James McRae Afterword : recontextualizing the self in comparative environmental philosophy / J. Baird Callicott. __Seminal essays on environmental philosophy from Indian, Chinese, and Japanese traditions of thought.____Environmental Philosophy in Asian Traditions____of Thought__ provides a welcome sequel to the foundational volume in Asian environmental ethics __Nature in Asian Traditions of Thought__. That volume, edited by J. Baird Callicott and Roger T. Ames and published in 1989, inaugurated comparative environmental ethics, adding Asian thought on the natural world to the developing field of environmental philosophy. This new book, edited by Callicott and James McRae, includes some of the best articles in environmental philosophy from the perspective of Asian thought written more recently, some of which appear in print for the first time. Leading scholars draw from the Indian, Chinese, and Japanese traditions of thought to provide a normative ethical framework that can address the environmental challenges being faced in the twenty-first century. Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist approaches are considered along with those of Zen, Japanese Confucianism, and the contemporary philosophy of the Kyoto School. An investigation of environmental philosophy in these Asian traditions not only challenges Western assumptions, but also provides an understanding of Asian philosophy, religion, and culture that informs contemporary environmental law and policy "Leading scholars draw from the Indian, Chinese, and Japanese traditions of thought to provide a normative framework that can address the environmental challenges being faced in the twenty-first century. Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, and Daoist approaches are considered along with those of Zen, Japanese Confucianism, and the contemporary philosophy of the Kyoto School. An investigation of the environmental philosophy in these Asian traditions not only challenges Western assumptions, but also provides and understanding of Asian philosophy, religion, and culture that informs contemporary environmental law and policy." -- Back cover