Inspired by the philosopher Graham Parkes, this collection provides a distinctive study of aesthetics and the climate crisis. Engaging with continental European and East Asian traditions, it challenges our definition of self in the West and asks us to re-evaluate our conventional perspectives. Expert authors present a timely reflection on contemporary issues, explicating the relationship between the human species and the natural world through its connection to the arts, dance and music. Showcasing Parkes's cross-cultural views on Japanese rock gardens, Buddhism, Daoist dance and musical ecology, while drawing on the philosophies of Nietzsche, Heidegger and the Zhuangzi, they demonstrate a diversity of comparative perspectives ranging from the structure of consciousness to discourses of climate change. Through a valuable and systematic treatment of the thought of Parkes, A Wandering Dance through the Philosophy of Graham Parkes makes the case that a restoration of the intimate relation of self and nature is indispensable in understanding our place in the order of things and achieving balance in the world.

What is "Chinese philosophy?" What is "philosophy" itself? How can one understand unfamiliar philosophical stances? How can comparison become a prominent philosophical tool? In this book, Massimiliano Lacertosa examines these questions by proposing an ethical understanding of the aesthetic encounter with the other and the world. Through the analysis of the works of Laozi, Zhuangzi, Nietzsche, and Heidegger, among others, this book explores the possibilities of stepping out of the anthropocentric standpoint and seeing the relation of objects in the world under a different light. This implies a shift from the metaphysical representation of the world divided between the sensible and the supersensible to an aesthetic and undivided experience of the world in which one partakes in the constant transformation of the myriad things. Approachable yet rigorous, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in the most fundamental issues of philosophy and in the challenges of doing philosophy in a multicultural context.

This collection is intercultural philosophy at its best. It contextualizes the global significance of the leading figures of Western phenomenology, including Husserl, Hegel, Nietzsche, Heidegger, Buber and Levinas, enters them into intercultural dialogue with the Daoism of Laozi and Zhuangzi and in doing so, breaks new ground. By presenting the first sustained analysis of the Daoist worldview by way of phenomenological experience, this book not only furthers our understanding of Daoism and phenomenology, but delves deeper into the roots of human thinking, aesthetic expression, and its impact on the modern social world. The international team of philosophers approach the phenomenological tradition in the broadest sense possible, looking beyond the phenomenological language of Husserl. With chapters on art, ethics, death and the metaphor of dream and hermeneutics, this collection encourages scholars and students in both Asian and Western traditions to rethink their philosophical bearings and engage in meaningful intercultural dialogue.

In Nietzsche and Zen: Self-Overcoming Without a Self, André van der Braak engages Nietzsche in a dialogue with four representatives of the Buddhist Zen tradition: Nagarjuna (c. 150-250), Linji (d. 860), Dogen (1200-1253), and Nishitani (1900-1990).In doing so, he reveals Nietzsche's thought as a philosophy of continuous self-overcoming, in which even the notion of "self" has been overcome. Van der Braak begins by analyzing Nietzsche's relationship to Buddhism and status as a transcultural thinker,recalling research on Nietzsche and Zen to date and setting out the basic argument of the study. He continues by examining the practices of self-overcoming in Nietzsche and Zen, comparing Nietzsche's radical skepticism with that of Nagarjuna and comparingNietzsche's approach to truth to Linji's. Nietzsche's methods of self-overcoming are compared to Dogen's zazen, or sitting meditation practice, and Dogen's notion of forgetting the self. These comparisons and others build van der Braak's case for acriticism of Nietzsche informed by the ideas of Zen Buddhism and a criticism of Zen Buddhism seen through the Western lens of Nietzsche - coalescing into one world philosophy. This treatment, focusing on one of the most fruitful areas of research withincontemporary comparative and intercultural philosophy, will be useful to Nietzsche scholars, continental philosophers, and comparative philosophers.

The significance of Friedrich Nietzsche for twentieth century culture is now no longer a matter of dispute. He was quite simply one of the most influential of modern thinkers. The opening essay of this 1996 Companion provides a chronologically organised introduction to and summary of Nietzsche's published works, while also providing an overview of their basic themes and concerns. It is followed by three essays on the appropriation and misappropriation of his writings, and a group of essays exploring the nature of Nietzsche's philosophy and its relation to the modern and post-modern world. The final contributions consider Nietzsche's influence on the twentieth century in Europe, the USA, and Asia. New readers and non-specialists will find this the most convenient, accessible guide to Nietzsche currently available. Advanced students and specialists will find a conspectus of recent developments in the interpretation of Nietzsche.

Inspired by the philosopher Graham Parkes, this collection provides a distinctive study of aesthetics and the climate crisis. Engaging with continental European and East Asian traditions, it challenges our definition of self in the West and asks us to re-evaluate our conventional perspectives. Expert authors present a timely reflection on contemporary issues, explicating the relationship between the human species and the natural world through its connection to the arts, dance and music. Showcasing Parkes's cross-cultural views on Japanese rock gardens, Buddhism, Daoist dance and musical ecology, while drawing on the philosophies of Nietzsche, Heidegger and the Zhuangzi, they demonstrate a diversity of comparative perspectives ranging from the structure of consciousness to discourses of climate change. Through a valuable and systematic treatment of the thought of Parkes, A Wandering Dance through the Philosophy of Graham Parkes makes the case that a restoration of the intimate relation of self and nature is indispensable in understanding our place in the order of things and achieving balance in the world.

This work in comparative philosophy uses the concept of Titanism to critique certain trends in both Eastern and Western philosophy. Titanism is an extreme form of humanism in which human beings take on divine attributes and prerogatives. The author finds the most explicit forms of spiritual Titanism in the Jaina, Samkhya, and Yoga traditions, where yogis claim powers and knowledge that in the West are only attributed to God. These philosophies are also radically dualistic, and liberation involves a complete transcendence of the body, society, and nature. Five types of spiritual Titanism are identified; and, in addition to this typology, a heuristic based on Nietzsche's three metamorphoses of camel, lion, and child is offered. The book determines that answers to spiritual Titanism begin not only with the Hindu Goddess religion, but also are found in Buddhism, Confucianism, and Daoism, especially Zen Buddhism and Confucianism.