What can't be said : paradox and contradiction in East Asian thought / Yasuo Deguchi, Jay L. Garfield, Graham Priest, and Robert H. Sharf.

What can't be said : paradox and contradiction in East Asian thought / Yasuo Deguchi, Jay L. Garfield, Graham Priest, and Robert H. Sharf.

9780197526217 (electronic book)

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, 2021.

English

1 online resource (204 pages).

B5165 .D44 2021

165

Paradox drives a good deal of philosophy in every tradition. In the Indian & Western traditions, there is a tendency among many philosophers to run from contradiction & paradox. If & when a contradiction appears in a theory, it is regarded as a sure sign that something has gone amiss. This aversion to paradox commits them, knowingly or not, to the view that reality must be consistent. In East Asia, however, philosophers have reacted to paradox differently. Many East Asian philosophers - both in the Daoist & the Buddhist traditions - have openly embraced paradox. They have taken compelling arguments for contradictory positions to suggest that the world is - at least in some respects, & often in very deep respects - inconsistent, & that our best theories of the world will therefore be inconsistent. This book is an initial survey of the writings of some influential East Asian thinkers who were committed to paradox, & for good reason.

Paradox drives a good deal of philosophy in every tradition. In the Indian & Western traditions, there is a tendency among many philosophers to run from contradiction & paradox. If & when a contradiction appears in a theory, it is regarded as a sure sign that something has gone amiss. This aversion to paradox commits them, knowingly or not, to the view that reality must be consistent. In East Asia, however, philosophers have reacted to paradox differently. Many East Asian philosophers - both in the Daoist & the Buddhist traditions - have openly embraced paradox. They have taken compelling arguments for contradictory positions to suggest that the world is - at least in some respects, & often in very deep respects - inconsistent, & that our best theories of the world will therefore be inconsistent. This book is an initial survey of the writings of some influential East Asian thinkers who were committed to paradox, & for good reason.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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Description based on online resource; title from home page (viewed on January 13, 2021).

Oxford scholarship online.

Print version: 9780197526187

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