Philosophy East and West, vol. 51, no. 2 (2001)

REMEMBERING BENJAMIN I. SCHWARTZ

Benjamin I. Schwartz (1916–1999)
Hoyt Cleveland Tillman, 183

Remarks at Harvard University Memorial Service for Benjamin I. Schwartz
Lin Yu-sheng, 187

Introduction to Benjamin I. Schwartz’ “China and Contemporary Millenarianism—Something New under the Sun”
Lin Yu-sheng, 189

China and Contemporary Millenarianism—Something New under the Sun
Benjamin I. Schwartz, 193

ARTICLES

Perceptual Cognition: A Nyāya-Kantian Approach
Monima Chadha, 197

It is commonly believed that the given consists of particulars cognized as such in perceptual experiences. Against this belief it is argued that perceptual cognition must be restricted to universal features. A Nyāya-Kantian argument is presented to reveal the incoherence in the very idea of a conception-free awareness of particulars. For the Naiyāyika philosophers and Kant, conceptualization is a necessary ingredient of perceptual experience, since perceptual cognition requires the possibility of recognition. From this it follows that perceptual cognition must be restricted to universal features. This is surprising, for it rules out the possibility of knowledge of particulars. This counterintuitive consequence can be avoided by reconsidering our intuitive notion of knowledge of particulars.

Dreamless Sleep and Some Related Philosophical Issues
Ramesh Kumar Sharma, 210

The phenomenon of dreamless sleep and its philosophical consequences, particularly deep sleep’s relevance to such issues as Self, Consciousness, Personal Identity, Unity of Subject, and Disembodied Life, are explored through a discussion, in varying detail, of certain noted doctrines and views—for example of Advaita Vedānta, Hegel, and H. D. Lewis. Finally, with a cue from Leibniz and McTaggart, the suggestion is made that at no stage during sleep is the self without some perceptions, however indeterminate. Support for this hypothesis is claimed from the current psychoanalytic opinion that mental activity does not cease during any part of sleep and that human beings continue to dream even in the so-called dreamless state.

Onitsura’s Makoto and the Daoist Concept of the Natural
Peipei Qiu, 232

Makoto (sincerity, truth, or faithfulness) is an important concept in haikai (Japanese comic linked verse) poetics. The discussions on makoto by the seventeenth-century haikai master Uejima Onitsura (1661–1738) clearly refer to the Daoist discourse on ziran (the Natural), and the clarification of this intertextuality is crucial to the understanding of the theoretical connotations of the term.

How to Do Things with Candrakīrti: A Comparative Study in Anti-skepticism
Dan Arnold, 247

Two strikingly similar critiques of epistemological foundationalism are examined: J. L. Austin’s critique of A. J. Ayer in the former’s Sense and Sensibilia, and part of Candrakīrti’s critique of Dignāga in the first chapter of the Prasannapadā . With respect to Austin, it is argued that his writings on epistemology in fact relate quite closely to his better-known philosophy of speech acts, and that the appeal to ordinary language is part of a transcendental argument against the possibility of radical skepticism. It is then argued that Candrakīrti makes some very similar moves, and that his argument against Dignāga makes still clearer the sense in which both Austin and Candrakīrti can be characterized as making transcendental arguments. In particular, if a condition of the possibility of meaningful discourse is the making of certain kinds of assents, then the epistemologist’s demand for the justification of those assents is unreasonable.

The Dancing Ru: A Confucian Aesthetics of Virtue
Nicholas F. Gier, 280

The most constructive response to the crisis in moral theory has been the revival of virtue ethics, which has the advantages of being personal, contextual, and, as will be argued, normative as well. It is also proposed that the best way to refound virtue ethics is to return to the Greek concept of technē tou biou, literally “craft of life.” The ancients did not distinguish between craft and fine art, and the meaning of technē, even in its Latin form, ars, still retains the meaning of skillful crafting and discipline. In Greco-Roman culture, techniques were very specific, covering dietetics, economics, and erotics. In ancient China, moral cultivation was intimately connected to the arts, from archery to poetry, music, and dance, such that virtually every activity would have both moral and aesthetic meaning. Using R. D. Collingwood’s distinction between craft and fine art, it is proposed that the latter, particularly the performing arts of music and dance, can serve as a model for virtue ethics in our times.

BOOK REVIEWS

Spirit Stones of China: The Ian and Susan Wilson Collection of Chinese Stones, Paintings, and Related Scholars’ Objects, edited by Stephen Little
Reviewed by Graham Parkes, 306

Original Tao: Inward Training and the Foundations of Taoist Mysticism, by Harold D. Roth
Reviewed by John A. Tucker, 307

Sourcebook for Modern Japanese Philosophy: Selected Documents, translated and edited by David A. Dilworth and Valdo H. Viglielmo, with Agustin Jacinto Zavala
Reviewed by Steven Heine, 311

Understanding Confucian Philosophy: Classical and Sung-Ming, by Shu-hsien Liu
Reviewed by Chenyang Li, 312

Before Confucius: Studies in the Creation of the Chinese Classics, by Edward L. Shaughnessy
Reviewed by John S. Major, 314

Meeting of Minds: Intellectual and Religious Interaction in East Asian Traditions of Thought, edited by Irene Bloom and Joshua A. Fogel
Reviewed by Deborah Sommer, 318

Shōbōgenzō: Yui Butsu yo Butsu [and] Shōji, by Dōgen, translated from Japanese and annotated by Eido Shimano Rōshi and Charles Vacher
Reviewed by Joan Stambaugh, 320