Overview

Japanese philosophy is now a flourishing field with thriving societies, journals, and conferences dedicated to it around the world, made possible by an ever-increasing library of translations, books, and articles. The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy is a foundation-laying reference work that covers, in detail and depth, the entire span of this philosophical tradition, from ancient times to the present. It introduces and examines the most important topics, figures, schools, and texts from the history of philosophical thinking in premodern and modern Japan. Each chapter, written by a leading scholar in the field, clearly elucidates and critically engages with its topic in a manner that demonstrates its contemporary philosophical relevance. The Handbook opens with an extensive introductory chapter that addresses the multifaceted question, ""What is Japanese Philosophy?"" The first fourteen chapters cover the premodern history of Japanese philosophy, with sections dedicated to Shinto and the Synthetic Nature of Japanese Philosophical Thought, Philosophies of Japanese Buddhism, and Philosophies of Japanese Confucianism and Bushido. Next, seventeen chapters are devoted to Modern Japanese Philosophies. After a chapter on the initial encounter with and appropriation of Western philosophy in the late nineteenth-century, this large section is divided into one subsection on the most well-known group of twentieth-century Japanese philosophers, The Kyoto School, and a second subsection on the no less significant array of Other Modern Japanese Philosophies. Rounding out the volume is a section on Pervasive Topics in Japanese Philosophical Thought, which covers areas such as philosophy of language, philosophy of nature, ethics, and aesthetics, spanning a range of schools and time periods. This volume will be an invaluable resource specifically to students and scholars of Japanese philosophy, as well as more generally to those interested in Asian and comparative philosophy and East Asian studies.

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9780197650585

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Reviews

The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy is a major contribution to the field written by a leading group of international scholars. Bret Davis has produced a compelling conceptual framework for rethinking Japanese philosophy today. This is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding Japanese philosophy in a broad historical and global philosophical context. * Takahiro Nakajima, University of Tokyo * Philosophy today should no longer continue to privilege the type of thinking developed in the Western tradition, but rather should be understood as a cooperative intellectual quest to discover and develop unpredictable possibilities by crossing linguistic and cultural borders. This Handbook contributes to that cross-cultural endeavor by setting forth a comprehensive overview of 'Japanese philosophy' based on multifarious ancient and traditional ways of thinking as well as modern engagements with Western philosophy. * Mayuko Uehara, Kyoto University * [This book aims] to provide the reader (the specialist and non-specialist alike) with a foundational framework in which to engage interpretively the tradition of Japanese philosophy. ... In short, the volume invites us to join and participate in the project of Japanese philosophy itself. * Steve G. Lofts, Philosophy East & West * For researchers and enthusiasts of Japanese philosophy, religious or otherwise, this book will certainly prove to be one of the most valuable works of reference for years to come. * Lehel Balogh, Hokkaido University, Religious Studies Review *

this book will certainly prove to be one of the most valuable works of reference for years to come. * Lehel Balogh, Religious Studies Review * Bret Davis has produced a compelling conceptual framework for rethinking Japanese philosophy. This is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding Japanese philosophy in a broad historical and global philosophical context. * Takahiro Nakajima, University of Tokyo * Philosophy today should no longer privilege the type of thinking developed in the Western tradition, but rather should be understood as a cooperative intellectual quest to discover and develop unpredictable possibilities by crossing linguistic and cultural borders. This Handbook is a major contribution to that endeavor. * Mayuko Uehara, Kyoto University * An ambitious work * Steve G. Lofts, Philosophy East and West * The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy is a major contribution to the field written by a leading group of international scholars. Bret Davis has produced a compelling conceptual framework for rethinking Japanese philosophy today. This is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding Japanese philosophy in a broad historical and global philosophical context. * Takahiro Nakajima, University of Tokyo * Philosophy today should no longer continue to privilege the type of thinking developed in the Western tradition, but rather should be understood as a cooperative intellectual quest to discover and develop unpredictable possibilities by crossing linguistic and cultural borders. This Handbook contributes to that cross-cultural endeavor by setting forth a comprehensive overview of 'Japanese philosophy' based on multifarious ancient and traditional ways of thinking as well as modern engagements with Western philosophy. * Mayuko Uehara, Kyoto University * [This book aims] to provide the reader (the specialist and non-specialist alike) with a foundational framework in which to engage interpretively the tradition of Japanese philosophy. ... In short, the volume invites us to join and participate in the project of Japanese philosophy itself. * Steve G. Lofts, Philosophy East & West * For researchers and enthusiasts of Japanese philosophy, religious or otherwise, this book will certainly prove to be one of the most valuable works of reference for years to come. * Lehel Balogh, Hokkaido University, Religious Studies Review *

this book will certainly prove to be one of the most valuable works of reference for years to come. * Lehel Balogh, Religious Studies Review * Bret Davis has produced a compelling conceptual framework for rethinking Japanese philosophy. This is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding Japanese philosophy in a broad historical and global philosophical context. * Takahiro Nakajima, University of Tokyo * Philosophy today should no longer privilege the type of thinking developed in the Western tradition, but rather should be understood as a cooperative intellectual quest to discover and develop unpredictable possibilities by crossing linguistic and cultural borders. This Handbook is a major contribution to that endeavor. * Mayuko Uehara, Kyoto University * An ambitious work * Steve G. Lofts, Philosophy East and West * The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy is a major contribution to the field written by a leading group of international scholars. Bret Davis has produced a compelling conceptual framework for rethinking Japanese philosophy today. This is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding Japanese philosophy in a broad historical and global philosophical context. * Takahiro Nakajima, University of Tokyo * Philosophy today should no longer continue to privilege the type of thinking developed in the Western tradition, but rather should be understood as a cooperative intellectual quest to discover and develop unpredictable possibilities by crossing linguistic and cultural borders. This Handbook contributes to that cross-cultural endeavor by setting forth a comprehensive overview of 'Japanese philosophy' based on multifarious ancient and traditional ways of thinking as well as modern engagements with Western philosophy. * Mayuko Uehara, Kyoto University * [This book aims] to provide the reader (the specialist and non-specialist alike) with a foundational framework in which to engage interpretively the tradition of Japanese philosophy. ... In short, the volume invites us to join and participate in the project of Japanese philosophy itself. * Steve G. Lofts, Philosophy East & West * For researchers and enthusiasts of Japanese philosophy, religious or otherwise, this book will certainly prove to be one of the most valuable works of reference for years to come. * Lehel Balogh, Hokkaido University, Religious Studies Review *

The Oxford Handbook of Japanese Philosophy is a major contribution to the field written by a leading group of international scholars. Bret Davis has produced a compelling conceptual framework for rethinking Japanese philosophy today. This is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding Japanese philosophy in a broad historical and global philosophical context. --Takahiro Nakajima, University of Tokyo Philosophy today should no longer continue to privilege the type of thinking developed in the Western tradition, but rather should be understood as a cooperative intellectual quest to discover and develop unpredictable possibilities by crossing linguistic and cultural borders. This Handbook contributes to that cross-cultural endeavor by setting forth a comprehensive overview of 'Japanese philosophy' based on multifarious ancient and traditional ways of thinking as well as modern engagements with Western philosophy. --Mayuko Uehara, Kyoto University [This book aims] to provide the reader (the specialist and non-specialist alike) with a foundational framework in which to engage interpretively the tradition of Japanese philosophy. ... In short, the volume invites us to join and participate in the project of Japanese philosophy itself. --Steve G. Lofts, Philosophy East & West For researchers and enthusiasts of Japanese philosophy, religious or otherwise, this book will certainly prove to be one of the most valuable works of reference for years to come. -- Lehel Balogh, Hokkaido University, Religious Studies Review

Author Information

Bret W. Davis is Professor & Higgins Chair in Philosophy at Loyola University Maryland. In addition to attaining a Ph.D. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University, he studied and taught for more than a dozen years at Kyoto University and elsewhere in Japan. He has published widely, in Japanese as well as in English, on Zen Buddhism, the Kyoto School, and various topics in continental and cross-cultural philosophy. His books include Zen Pathways: An Introduction to the Philosophy and Practice of Zen Buddhism (Oxford University Press, 2022).

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