Emotions in Asian Thought: A Dialogue in Comparative Philosophy

by Joel Marks, Roger T. Ames

Treats the nature and ethical significance of emotions from a comparative cultural perspective emphasizing Asian traditions.

This book broadens the inquiry into emotion to comprehend a comparativecultural outlook. It begins with an overview of recent work in the West, and then proceeds to the main business of scrutinizing various relevant issues from both Asian and comparative perspectives. Finally, RobertSolomon comments and summarizes.

"The book provides a very goodsurvey of how the emotions are understood in various Eastern traditionsin the comparative light of contemporary Western theory. Theintroductory essay by Marks and the closing essays by Lutz and Solomonare particularly helpful in framing the overarching issues andcontribute to a well-rounded volume." -- Steven Heine, PennsylvaniaState University

"Anyone who has given thought to questions suchas 'what is an emotion?' or 'what is the relevance of study of Asiancultures and texts?' will benefit from this book. For more than aquarter-century the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy hasprovided a lively and learned forum for such questions. At the beginning of the book the editors invite new participants into the conversationby establishing a context and reviewing contributions from the past. Atthe end, Robert Solomon, who is one of the most important contributorsto the philosophical analysis and interpretation of emotion, offers abrilliant summary response. A particularly valuable feature of the bookis that it brings to bear new perspectives from the cultures of India,China, and Japan. This is a landmark volume." -- Gene R. Thursby,University of Florida

"This book shows that cross-culturalstudies have attained heights of maturity that simply were not possiblein the prior generation of scholarship. The authors are well acquaintedwith the languages of the cultures that are examined here, and trulyprovide a sympathetic analysis of emotions in their respectivecontexts." -- Christopher Key Chapple, Loyola Marymount University

Genres: Philosophy, China

321 pages, Hardcover

First published November 22, 1994

About the author

Joel Marks is a professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of New Haven and a scholar at the Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics at Yale University. He is the regular ethics columnist for Philosophy Now magazine.