Harmony and Strife: Contemporary Perspectives, East & West

Front Cover
Shuxian Liu, Robert Elliott Allinson
Chinese University Press, 1988 - History - 327 pages
This volume is intended for professional philosophers and laymen with an interest in East-West studies and comparative philosophy and religion. The central focus is the concept of comparing perspectives from both the Eastern and the Western philosophical traditions on harmony and strife. The unique and happy result is an East-West anthology which is directed at analyzing a single philosophical problem which is of importance to both traditions. Unlike many anthologies which tend to be collections of isolated and unrelated essays, the Editors' focus on a single theme has resulted in a unified volume which maintains a high continuity of interest throughout. The Editors have carefully culled and organized essays from a select group of philosophers from the United States, West Germany, Japan, Australia, Beijing, Taipei and Hong Kong. Harmony and strife are analyzed as systematic concepts in Western philosophy, as parts of classical Chinese thought, as central concepts in Buddhism, as metaphysical concepts, as dialectical concepts and even as null concepts. The Editors have taken great care so that a continuity and a coherence of presentation is achieved despite the striking variety of perspectives from which harmony and strife are analyzed. It is both unusual and important to have such a systematic and thorough investigation of a topic of paramount social and philosophical significance by some of the leading minds of the day. Besides, the essays included are eminently readable. The volume is likely to become a standard work in this area for some years to come.
 

Contents

Harmony through Strife as a Problem of Natural and Cultural
3
Philosophy and the Conflict between Tendencies of Life
21
Mediation Conflict and Creative Diversity
31
Between Chaos and Totalization
49
Do Higher Order Desires Resolve Conflict?
59
Conflict Contract and the Principles of Justice
69
The Significance of Harmony in Buddhist Thought
91
Changing Phases of Conflict in the History of Buddhist Thought
113
The Confucian View
187
A Philosophical Assessment
211
Paradigms from the I Ching
225
On Chu Hsis Search for Equilibrium and Harmony
249
Variations on the Theme of Unity
271
The Idea of Measure and Its Relation to the Furthering
293
Measure Reality Philosophy
303
The Necessity for a MetaTheoretical Approach to Cultural
309

The Buddhas Middle Way as a Vehicle of Culture
143
The Concept of Harmony in Chuang
169
The Problem of Harmonious Communities in Ancient China
321
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

Bibliographic information