Contextual influences on marketing and consumerism: an East Asian perspective

PurposeThis study aims to summarize the important contextual influences East Asian philosophy may have on marketing strategy and consumerism.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach is used to deconstruct (1) the literature on marketing as a contextual discipline, (2) East Asian philosophical underpinnings and their personal and institutional manifestations in East Asian marketing contexts, and (3) the implications for non-East Asian marketers. This essay includes a brief introduction to the manuscripts in this special issue.FindingsAncient philosophical wisdom shared by East Asian societies can shed light on how marketing activities and consumer behavior intertwine within East Asia and beyond. Three ancient philosophies (i.e. Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism) heavily influence East Asian societies through personal and institutional-level cultural manifestations in marketing contexts.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the three discussed East Asian philosophical schools are not exhaustive, they lay a foundation for future discussions about how alternative marketing-related theories and frameworks may complement ones grounded in western historical and cultural contexts.Originality/valueThis essay initiates an overdue academic discussion about relying on non-western historical and cultural contexts to globalize the marketing discipline further.

Introduction and Motivation

This chapter briefly introduces dialetheism—the view that some contradictions may be true. It explains why much of Western philosophy has been hostile to contradiction, and it motivates the idea that East Asian philosophy may be more accommodating of contradiction. It also sets out the program of the book.

Relevance of Asian Philosophy to Philosophy of Education Today: An Interview with Roger Ames

Professor Roger T. Ames is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa. The following is a short excerpt from an interview with Professor Ames that took place on the eve of 2009 PESA Conference, December 1, 2009. Heesoon Bai, Editor of Paideusis, accompanied by Avraham Cohen, interviewed Professor Ames in his office.

Review and Prospects of Taiwanese Philosophy Scholarship in South Korea

This study examined how Taiwanese philosophy has been received and researched in South Korea since its start to the present day. It takes the form of a survey, classifying the articles about Taiwanese philosophy which were published in South Korea over the years from 1994 to 2018 by the theme. It selected nine philosophers whose influence was profound in Taiwanese philosophy and observed the currents in the scholarship on each philosopher. The names of the selected philosophers are: Fang Thomé H., Hu Shi, Huang Chun-chieh, Lin Yutang, Liu Shuxian (Liu Shu-hsien), Mou Zongsan, Tang Junyi (Tang Chun-I), Xu Fuguan, Yu Yingshi (Yu Ying-shih). Sixty-one related papers were summarized and reviewed, and each of them was classified by the publication date, author, language, publisher and keywords. The survey revealed the limitations in Asian philosophy scholarship with regard to Taiwanese philosophy in South Korea, in terms of both quantity and quality. The survey also suggested a possible solution to these limitations and directions for scholars in the future. The study thus serves as a foundation that can boost discussion and the balanced development of South Korean philosophy studies, as well as of Asian philosophy in general.

The White Snake, Apollonius of Tyana, and John Keats’s Lamia

The many details shared by John Keats’s Lamia and Feng Menglong’s treatment of the White Snake legend are evidence of a series of exchanges between Europe and Asia over the course of centuries. Ultimately these originated in Indian folklore which was transmitted to China, where it became Buddhist myth, and to the Hellenistic world in Philostratus’ Life of Apollonius of Tyana. Keats amplified these commonalities by using Philostratus’ serpent tale as a vehicle for considerations of Orientalism. In Apollonius he chose a figure that generated considerable controversy among Anglican theologians, both for the parallels in Philostratus’ hagiography to the life of Christ, and by his associations with Asian philosophy. Feng Menglong’s treatment of the White Snake legend was prominent in eighteenth-century China, and is likely to have been known to European visitors.