Philosophy and Culture-East and West

This is a veritable source book in world understanding--or a reference book in what has often been called the mutual understanding of the peoples of Asia and the peoples of the West. it is also the "e;official report"e; of the activities of the Third East-West Philosophers' Conference held in Hawaii in 1959. Here, in some forty-five scholarly papers and public lectures, outstanding authorities--such as Radhakrishnan of India, Hu Shih of China, Suzuki of Japan, and Northrop of the West--explain their own cultures and the philosophical traditions in the East-West perspective. These are scholarly experts, but they are also people who have lived in accordance with, and are deeply convinced of the truth of, the principles they present here. The conference which this volume reports was devoted exclusively to the attempt to achieve mutual understanding; criticism or denunciation, biased or otherwise, was not the purpose of the discussions and was kept to a minimum. The attempt was not to correct other traditions or to insist upon the superiority of one's own, but, rather, to understand the other persons and the traditions for which they stand. In other words, the typical counterclaims and criticisms that are major factors in most conferences, especially in philosophy, will not be found in this book. This is not a volume that reads like a detective story, but the intellectually curious who are open-minded and cordial to new and strange ideas will find that it often reads almost as excitingly. For those who wish to understand the basic convictions behind the cultures of India, China, Japan, and the West, the chapters in these particular areas will prove extremely enlightening. Those wishing to study the various interpretations of, or beliefs on, such things as science, religion, spirituality in general, morality, the seriousness and practical significance of philosophy, the status and significance of law, etc., will find here expert, yet highly readable, accounts of differing--but in many cases surprisingly similar--interpretations from East and West. In face, differences abound, but this volume provides for the willing-to-see reader a virtual revelation of the common basic convictions of the great traditions.