Philosophy East and West, vol. 56, no. 3 (2006)

REMEMBERING REV. DR. LEROY STEPHENS ROUNER

Rev. Dr. Leroy Stephens Rouner (August 5, 1930–February 11, 2006)
367

A Memorial Tribute to Leroy Rouner
Eliot Deutsch, 369

ARTICLES

Zhuangzi and the Nature of Metaphor
Kim-chong Chong, 370

While it is well known that Zhuangzi uses metaphor extensively, there is much less appreciation of the role that it plays in his thought—a topic that is investigated in this essay. At the same time, this investigation is closely concerned with questions about the nature of metaphor. Comparisons are made between a central metaphorical structure in the Zhuangzi on the one hand and contemporary views of the nature of metaphor by Donald Davidson and by Lakoff and Johnson on the other. It is hoped that these comparisons will help to illuminate the central metaphorical structure and its role in the philosophy of the Zhuangzi.

The Crow and the Coconut: Accident, Coincidence, and Causation in the Yogavāsistha
Nicholas Buxton, 392

This article explores the way in which the Yogavāsistha’s account of causation as coincidence relates to its soteriological agenda and the view that the ‘existence’of the world—deemed to be an illusion anyway—is a mere accident. Comparison is made to similar ideas about causality articulated by David Hume,who nonetheless stops short of drawing quite such radical metaphysical conclusions, in spite of his epistemological skepticism concerning the existence of external objects.

Saying the Unsayable
Chien-hsing Ho, 409

A number of traditional philosophers and religious thinkers advocated an ineffability thesis to the effect that the ultimate reality cannot be expressed as it truly is by human concepts and words.But this thesis has been criticized and dismissed by some modern scholars. This article intends to show the consistency of this thesis. After introducing certain criticisms set forth by the critics and examining the disputable solution offered by John Hick, the author attends to Bhartrhari’s solution to tackle the main problem here. This fifth-century Indian grammarian-philosopher’s strategy, based on the imposition-cum-negation method, is then enlarged and supplemented to deal with the criticisms and related issues.

The Tiantai Roots of Dōgen’s Philosophy of Language and Thought
John Spackman, 428

Many recent studies of Dōgen have rightly emphasized that for Dōgen language and thought are capable of expressing the buddha dharma. But they have not recognized that this positive assessment of language rests on an underlying critique of the prevalent commonsense view that language functions by representing an independent reality. Focusing on Dōgen’s use of apparently paradoxical language, it is suggested that in order to understand this critique we need to trace it back to its roots in the interpretation of Madhyamaka given by the Tiantai thinker Zhiyi.

Two Chariots: The Justification of the Best Life in the Katha Upanishad and Plato’s Phaedrus
Elizabeth Schiltz, 451

The philosophical import of the chariot images found in the Katha Upanishad and the Phaedrus is considered here. It is claimed that the resemblance in the accounts provided in these disparate texts is not merely incidental. Rather, each chariot-image should be read as contributing to a careful answer to the same thorny philosophical problem: the identification and justification of the best life for the individual. It is argued that each serves to illuminate an internal and complex account of the self, which grounds and supports an effective rejection of the life spent in pursuit of the satisfaction of bodily desires in favor of the life spent in pursuit of wisdom.

FEATURE REVIEWS

What Does It Mean to ‘‘Speak Truth to Power’’?—a review of Political Philosophy in Japan: Nishida, the Kyoto School, and Co-Prosperity, by Christopher S. Goto-Jones
Christian Uhl, 469

Going to Our Happy Place: Idealism, Realism, and Nishida’s Eutopia: A Response to Christian Uhl
Christopher S. Goto-Jones, 482

The Ways of Interpreting Dao
Ruiqi Ma, 487