Cross-Cultural Approaches to Consciousness: Mind, Nature, and Ultimate Reality

by Itay Shani (Editor), Susanne Kathrin Beiweis (Editor)

Overview

Uniting analytic philosophy with Buddhist, Indian, and Chinese traditions, this collection marks the first systematic cross-cultural examination of one of philosophy of mind's most fascinating questions: can consciousness be conceived as metaphysically fundamental?

Engaging in debates concerning consciousness and ultimate reality, emergence and mental causation, realism, idealism, panpsychism, and illusionism, it understands problems through the philosophies of East and South-East Asia, in particular Buddhism and Vedanta. Each section focuses on a specific aspect or theory of consciousness, and examines a particular subject from different disciplinary perspectives including philosophy, psychology, and cognitive science. These different angles allows readers to gain insight into the intellectual challenges and problems of the study of consciousness and its place in the thought traditions of both Eastern and Western philosophy.

Raising new questions, it provides a more global and holistic understanding of consciousness, presenting a stimulating and original contribution to contemporary consciousness studies and the metaphysics of mind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781350238794
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/27/2024
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	6.69(w) x 9.61(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

Itay Shani is Professor in the Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai) at Sun Yat-sen University, China.
Susanne Kathrin Beiweis is Research Associate in the Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai) at Sun Yat-sen University, China.

Table of Contents

List of Figures and Tables
Notes on the Editors and Contributors
Acknowledgements

Introduction, Susanne K. Beiweis and Itay Shani (both of Sun Tay-sen University, China)

Part I: Consciousness and Ultimate Reality

1. On the Identification of Being and Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta, Wolfgang Fasching (University of Vienna, Austria)
2. Cosmopsychism and Non-Sankaran Traditions of Hindu Non-dualism: In Search of a Fertile Connection, Itay Shani (Sun Yat-sen University, China)

Part II: Emergence and Mental Causation

3. Consciousness, Physicalism, and the Problem of Mental Causation, Christian Coseru (College of Charleston, USA)
4. Abhinavagupta's Svatantryavada: Mental Causality, Emergentism and Intuitionist Mathematics, Loriliai Biernacki (University of Colorado at Boulder, USA)
5. Karma and Mental Causation: A Nikaya Buddhist Perspective, George Wong Soo Lam (Singapore University of Social Sciences, Singapore)

Part III: Realism, Idealism, and Panpsychism

6. Consciousness as the Fundamental Reality of the Universe: A Master Argument for Buddhist Idealism, Alex Watson (Ashoka University, Delhi, India)
7. Huayan Buddhism's Conceptions of the Realness of Reality: A Transformation from Subjective Idealism into Holistic Realism, JeeLoo Liu (California State University, Fullerton, USA)
8. Converging Outlooks? Contemporary Panpsychism and Chinese Natural Philosophy, Pierfrancesco Basile (University of Bern, Switzerland)

Part IV: Illusionism
9. The Magic of Consciousness: Sculpting an Alternative Illusionism, Bryce Huebner (Georgetown University, USA), Eyal Aviv (George Washington University, USA), and Sonam Kachru (University of Virginia, USA)
10. Cognitive Illusion and Immediate Experience: Perspectives from Buddhist Philosophy, Jay L. Garfield (Smith College, USA)
11. Interrogating Illusionism, Anand Jayprakash Vaidya (San Jose State University, USA)

Index

Editorial Reviews

Philosophers have only recently begun to recognize the need for a truly global approach to consciousness. Cross-Cultural Approaches to Consciousness makes a valuable and timely contribution to the nascent cosmopolitan movement within consciousness studies. Addressing an impressive array of global philosophical traditions and topics as varied as mental causation, panpsychism, idealism, and illusionism, this volume is essential reading for anyone interested in cutting-edge, cross-cultural inquiry into the nature of consciousness.” —Swami Medhananda, Senior Research Fellow in Philosophy, Ramakrishna Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education, India

“New insights are required to tackle consciousness, and the essays in this volume may be an important piece of the puzzle. It brings together some of the greatest thinkers on this topic of both East and West. Essential reading for anyone interested in the science and philosophy of consciousness.” —Philip Goff, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Durham University, UK

From the Publisher