Summary
Brook Ziporyn's "Emptiness and Omnipresence" argues that the sixth-century Chinese school of Tiantai Buddhism, originating from an innovative interpretation of the Lotus Sutra, offers profound insights relevant to modern philosophical concerns in ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. Ziporyn positions Tiantai Buddhism in dialogue with contemporary thought, revealing its systematic approach and influence in East Asian philosophical development.
The book explains Tiantai's origins, its characteristic positions of extreme affirmation and rejection, its blend of religious skepticism with the embrace of religious myth, and its distinctive view of human consciousness. Readers will gain an understanding of Tiantai's unique doctrines and their potential for stimulating philosophical reflection.
Key concepts
- Tiantai Buddhism — A systematic and influential school of East Asian philosophical thought, emerging in sixth-century China from an interpretation of the Lotus Sutra.
- Lotus Sutra — The foundational text from which Tiantai Buddhism developed through an innovative interpretation.
- Extreme affirmation and rejection — Positions characteristic of Tiantai Buddhism, highlighting its distinctive doctrinal stances.
- Religious skepticism and embrace of religious myth — A dual characteristic of Tiantai Buddhism, demonstrating its complex engagement with religious belief.
- Human consciousness — A key area explored by Tiantai Buddhism, with a distinct view presented in the text.
From the book
Description: This "rich and rewarding work" explores the connections between ancient Buddhist doctrine and contemporary philosophy ( Publishers Weekly). Tiantai Buddhism emerged in sixth century China from an idiosyncratic and innovative interpretation of the Lotus Sutra. It went on to become one of the most complete, systematic, and influential schools of philosophical thought developed in East Asia. In Emptiness and Omnipresence, Brook A. Ziporyn puts Tiantai into dialogue with modern philosophical concerns to draw out its implications for ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics. Ziporyn explains Tiantai's unlikely roots, its positions of extreme affirmation and rejection, its religious skepticism and embrace of religious myth, and its view of human consciousness. Ziporyn reveals the…
Snippet: In Emptiness and Omnipresence, Brook A. Ziporyn puts Tiantai into dialogue with modern philosophical concerns to draw out its implications for ethics, epistemology, and metaphysics.
Popular questions readers ask
- How would you explain the significance of Tiantai Buddhism's "idiosyncratic and innovative interpretation of the Lotus Sutra" to someone unfamiliar with either term, and why was this interpretation so crucial to its development as a "complete, systematic, and influential school"?
- The text states Ziporyn puts Tiantai "into dialogue with modern philosophical concerns." What specific "modern philosophical concerns" do you anticipate Tiantai's insights might illuminate or challenge in the fields of ethics, epistemology, or metaphysics, and why would this dialogue be productive?
- Tiantai is described as holding "positions of extreme affirmation and rejection" alongside an embrace of "religious skepticism and religious myth." How can a single philosophical school coherently hold such seemingly contradictory stances, and what might this reveal about its "profound insights"?
- Beyond the summary, the description mentions Tiantai's "view of human consciousness." Based on its other characteristics (idiosyncratic, systematic, extreme positions, skepticism/myth), what *kind* of view of human consciousness would you predict Tiantai might hold, and how might this view connect to its implications for ethics or metaphysics?
- Ziporyn aims to "stimulate philosophical reflection on its unexpected effects." What about Tiantai's "effects" might be considered "unexpected" in the context of contemporary philosophical dialogue, and why is this "unexpectedness" central to the book's purpose?