scholarly journals The Influence of Vedanta on the Writings of Emerson: A Philosophical Inquiry

Author(s):  
Sabindra Raj Bhandari

This article explores the insights of Vedanta in the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Vedanta proclaims that the ultimate reality is within us. The Vedanta propounds for the philosophical explanations of the Vedas. The absolute reality that Vedanta projects as Brahman is essentially inward, and the entire phenomenal manifestations are just the reflection of that ultimate reality. Every phenomenal manifestation is the qualitative growth of the absolute one. The ultimate reality rules everything that exists in the material world. In this way, Vedanta believes in unity between God, man and nature. These essentials of Vedanta have their influences on Emerson’s writings. His essays and poems talk about this cosmic unity. His concepts of Over-Soul and the self-reliance remain as the metamorphosis of the philosophical insights of Vedanta. His poem “Brahma” exactly reflects the impacts of Vedanta because the poem views an individual in an eternal divine form. Therefore, Emerson proves to be an American rishi (sage) in Concord who accordingly elaborates and qualifies the Vedanta with new insights. This article is exploratory and interpretive. It tries to correlate the concepts, ideas and essence of the Vedanta in the writings of Emerson. This study, in this way, makes a philosophical inquiry of Emerson’s writing with the perspective of Vedanta.

Histories ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-121
Author(s):  
Satoshi Murayama ◽  
Hiroko Nakamura

Jan de Vries revised Akira Hayami’s original theory of the “Industrious Revolution” to make the idea more applicable to early modern commercialization in Europe, showcasing the development of the rural proletariat and especially the consumer revolution and women’s emancipation on the way toward an “Industrial Revolution.” However, Japanese villages followed a different path from the Western trajectory of the “Industrious Revolution,” which is recognized as the first step to industrialization. This article will explore how a different form of “industriousness” developed in Japan, covering medieval, early modern, and modern times. It will first describe why the communal village system was established in Japan and how this unique institution, the self-reliance system of a village, affected commercialization and industrialization and was sustained until modern times. Then, the local history of Kuta Village in Kyô-Otagi, a former county located close to Kyoto, is considered over the long term, from medieval through modern times. Kuta was not directly affected by the siting of new industrial production bases and the changes brought to villages located nearer to Kyoto. A variety of diligent interactions with living spaces is introduced to demonstrate that the industriousness of local women was characterized by conscience-driven perseverance.


2011 ◽  
Vol 64 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-210
Author(s):  
John Parratt

AbstractKatsume Takizawa (1909–1984) was one of the most innovative of twentieth-century Japanese philosophical theologians. His study with Barth (1935) led him to attempt to bring together aspects of Barth's theology with concepts derived from Jodo-shin and Zen. He found in both religions a basic relationship between God and man which transcended both identity and distinction, which he expressed in Nishida's concept of the self-identity of the absolute contradiction. This relationship he called ‘Emmanuel 1’. The fulfilment of the relationship is ‘Emmanuel 2’ and is reflected for Christians in Jesus.


Derrida Today ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 260-270
Author(s):  
Francesco Vitale

The paper aims to present a reading of the question of Testimony rising in Derrida's later works (from Faith and Knowledge to Poetics and Politics of Witnessing): the experience of Testimony as the irreducible condition of the relation to the Other, of every possible link among living human singularities and, thus, of the thinking of a community to come. This thinking is able to divert the community from the economy grounding and structuring it within our political tradition governed by the metaphysics of presence, which demands the sacrifice of the Other in its multiple theoretical and practical forms. We intend to read this proposal and to point out its rich perspectives by bringing it into the articulation of an ethical-political archi-writing. So we suggest going back to Derrida's early analyses of phenomenology and to De la grammatologie in order to present a reading of archi-writing as the irreducible condition of the relation to otherness and, thus, of the experience through which a living human singularity constitutes itself, a singularity different from the one our tradition compels us to think of within the pattern of the absolute presence to the self, free from the relation to the other.


2020 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-119
Author(s):  
Agnieszka Daniluk

Abstract In the science of administrative and constitutional law, administration science and many other sciences, including political science, it is widely accepted that the basic, inherent feature of a municipality, deciding the essence of the territorial self-government unit as an entity of public administration, is the self-reliance it is entitled to. The self-reliance of territorial self-government units is even defined as a constitutional norm. In principle, self-reliance is perceived as a fundamental attribute of a decentralised public authority and constitutes one of the fundamental systemic principles of the Republic of Poland. It was formulated expressis verbis in art. 165 par. 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland, which states that the self-reliance of territorial self-government units is subject to judicial protection, meaning that TSGUs can defend themselves against illegal attempts, not grounded in the law to interfere in their self-reliance. This protection seems to encompass both the private-law and public-law spheres of territorial self-government activity. The essence and guarantees of territorial self-government units’ self-reliance also arise from other constitutional principles, including the aforementioned decentralisation principle, subsidiarity principle, separation of powers, supremacy of the nation and democratic state under rule of law. The goal of this article is to interpret the principle of municipal self-reliance in the context of constitutional principles of law, in the light of the Polish Constitution. The studies were conducted based on analysis of normative acts, doctrinal views and case law.


Author(s):  
Isabelle Ratié

The Pratyabhijñā (“Recognition”) system, designed by the Śaiva nondualist Utpaladeva (c.925–975 ce) and expounded by Abhinavagupta (c.975–1025 ce) stands out as one of the greatest accomplishments of Indian philosophy. Engaging in a dialogue with all the rival currents of thought of his time, and claiming that the realization of our identity with God (understood as a single, all-encompassing, and all-powerful consciousness) can be achieved through the mere recourse to experience and reason, Utpaladeva transforms the Śaiva scriptural dogmas into philosophical concepts. His “new path” is aimed at demonstrating that the essence of any individual’s consciousness is none other than the absolute freedom characterizing God’s creativity. While examining Utpaladeva’s use of the concept of freedom in several major Indian controversies (such as the debates over the existence of the self or the ontological status of perceived objects), this article explores his phenomenological attempts to uncover the freedom of consciousness in our most ordinary experiences.


Pneuma ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 460-476
Author(s):  
Jacqueline N. Grey

Abstract The article discusses the future of global pentecostalism, focusing on the context of Australia. It first explores the self-identification of pentecostalism as a prophetic community in continuity with the narrative of Luke-Acts. In particular, the implications of the Isaianic mission of Jesus and the early church are discussed. The socially transformative nature of this mission includes not only miracles and healing, but also concern for the poor and marginalized. From this foundation, the article secondly addresses issues within contemporary Australian pentecostalism of individualism and self-reliance that are incompatible with the Isaianic vision. It presents, thirdly, a vision for the Australian pentecostal community that moves beyond a preoccupation with personal empowerment of the Spirit to participate with God in bringing healing and justice to the world.


Author(s):  
Sarah G. Phillips

This chapter explores how Somaliland’s independence discourse assigns meaning to the region’s relative isolation within the international system. To that end, the chapter first provides some background about the kinds of intervention that Somalia has experienced. It then considers the effects of the independence discourse and international isolation on Somaliland’s economy, even as it delves into Somaliland’s pre-independence economic insulation. Here, the unusual nature of Somaliland’s relative exclusion from international economic and political structures is reified as a pillar of its ability to establish peace. The absence of intervention during Somaliland’s early years energizes a powerful discourse about Somalilanders’ exceptionalism, the self-reliance of its people, and the ownership of its institutions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-251
Author(s):  
Sharon Kim

Caesar's Things is a semi-autobiographical novel combining modernist literary experimentation with narrative structures derived from the Bible. This unfinished work is seldom analyzed by literary scholars, in part because Fitzgerald's Christian conversion in the 1930s coincided with a mental breakdown, which made her faith and writing both suspect. Criticized as “incoherent,” the novel nonetheless becomes legible when Fitzgerald's religion is disentangled from madness and its contributions examined. The novel confesses the spiritual impoverishment of the Jazz Age protagonist, then seeks her redemption, healing the divide between the self and her soul, between the material world and the kingdom of God.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document