Inclusive Infinity and Radical Particularity: Hartshorne, Hegel and Nishida
ABSTRACT: God, or in Nishida’s case Buddha-nature, is frequently conceptualized as relating to the world by including it within the Infinite. Particular elements within the world are not seen as existing in absolute differentiation or total negation from Spirit, God, or Absolute Non-Being. The Many are not excluded but are, on the contrary, included within the One. The logic by which the One includes the Many is a logic of manifold unity, or, as Hegel quite confidently puts it, true infinity as opposed to spurious infinity. I will argue that such a logic of inclusive infinity is operative in Hartshorne, Hegel and Nishida. Each uses different terminology and writes with different systemic emphases, but as applied to God or the Ultimate, the function and consequences of the logic of inclusivity are strikingly similar for all three philosophers. Although infinite inclusivity provides a way of unifying the chaotic diversity of existence into a rational totality, there are central questions that have remained unanswered in the three metaphysicians. Primary among them is the question that sums up within itself many of the others: the problem of radical particularity. The particular elements of the world which are claimed to be included within the parameters of the Ultimate are just that: particular fragments of reality. I argue that their particular nature makes it impossible for the Infinite to incorporate them within its purview without raising serious difficulties.
God, or in Nishida's case Buddha-nature, is frequently conceptualized as relating to the world by including it within the Infinite. Particular elements within the world are not seen as ex...
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...oblem of including evil but of including within God's essence contradictory experiences such as joy and sorrow, pain and pleasure at the same time. Is it really possible that the Ultimate fully experience each element it contains even when there are a myriad number of elements of the opposite type? Yet the problem of radical particularity is even deeper. It is not just a matter of including evil, nor of including contradictory experiences, but of including any finite experience within the Ultimate. The Infinite cannot become finite because finite things are finite. I will concede that there may be a metaphysical solution to the problem of radical particularity that may have eluded the present analysis. I have not proven that inclusive Infinity is impossible, merely that there is a significant problem with its conceptualization that has not been adequately addressed.
Yu, Han. “Memorial on Buddhism”. Making of the Modern World 12: Classical & Medieval Tradition. Trans. Richard F. Burton. Ed. Janet Smarr. La Jolla: University Readers, 2012. 111-112. Print.
This paper will explore the question of how to understand the nature of perceived ultimateity in Zen Buddhism. This will be achieved through providing a justification for why this question should be of any interest and then hypothesizing about possible implications of the results. Next, the framework that is to be used in categorizing the core beliefs in Zen will be explained and made clear. After this description is complete, the author will proceed to fit Zen Buddhism into this framework and will demonstrate that the Zen religion is no exception to the employed framework. Finally, the author will describe the perceived ultimacy of Zen Buddhism.
Although misconceptions are prominent throughout beliefs about the Buddhist religion, Keown is quick to point this out, “Students of Buddhism have tended to fasten onto a small part of the tradition and assume their conclusions held true about the whole.” (Keown, 1) He proceeds to say that these beliefs ...
Ford, Stephen. "Review of Buddhism." Tutorial workshop for Introduction to Religion Class at York University. Toronto. 21 Feb. 2005.
Comcast has entered strategic partnerships to acquire programming and distribution rights from the likes of ABC News, Walt Disney, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and T-Mobile. If the merger
I will now examine what it means to be religious with a critical enquiry into Buddhism, Hinduism and
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Throughout the history of humankind, man has always searched to find answers to the many existential questions. Numerous different religions and denominations have developed around the world over time. Though, most wonder about the origin and purpose of our existence. Buddhism was founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama about 2,600 years ago in India. After he had experienced that everyone was subject to “birth, sickness, death, and old age”, he tried to find a way to break from the cycle of rebirth (Bloom). Siddhartha Gautama experimented with a number of methods to find the cause of suffering which led him to what he called the Middle Way – a path between “licentiousness and extreme mortification” (Bloom). Once he achieved enlightenment, he turned into ‘the Buddha – the enlightened or awakened one’. Christianity is one of the largest and most prevailing religions of the world and largely based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians trust that Jesus was sent by God to save humanity. Therefore, the faith of the followers of the Christian belief is primarily based on the preaching of Jesus and later the spreading of those by his disciples. Although Buddhism and Christianity show several parallels, their three key differences are that Buddhists do not believe in one divine being, and have different views about both the purpose of life and the concept of afterlife.
the light of Buddhist understanding. To limit the topic of study, this paper will examine only the
Holliday, Adrian, Martin Hyde, and John Kullman. 2010. Intercultural Communication: An advanced resource book for students. 2nd Edition. Routledge.
Although Daoism and Hinduism are two completely separate religions with the former indigenous to China and the latter to India, both of them encompass striking similarities that undeniably make it seem that one influenced the other. However, no known relations between the two religions exist. Comparing the small, but contextually vital part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata known as Bhagavad Gita with the central text to Daoism, Tao Te Ching offers an unparalleled journey of knowledge and understanding. Tao Te Ching emphasizes the crucial concept of Dao, which is translated as the “Way” while Bhagavad Gita stresses the all-encompassing Brahman. Since no sufficient language can express the full meaning of Dao, the most suitable example that shows its operations is the movement of water (TTC 8). Water simply flows with unity with nature – it can transform itself into whatever form is needed to flow. Dao is essentially an indescribable eternal energy and origin of the entire universe. Fully arriving at the Dao is the main goal of Daoism. Similarly, Brahman is the ultimate end to everything in the universe. In the Bhagavad Gita, Brahman is described as the source from which all beings originate from and eventually return. The fundamental principle of both concepts is, therefore, one and the same. I will specifically focus on vital parts of the two concepts in order to illustrate the parallelism of the eventual goal of the Dao and the Brahman. The emphasis on action with no desire for the “fruit” of the action, Dao and Brahman’s inexpressible essence, and following one’s own duty in order to complement the movement of the universe. These concepts illustrate the similarity between Dao and Brahman and ultimately demonstrate that they are ide...
We are asked first to comprehend "Infinity," and then to whatever "infinity" "beholds" in not everything but "nothing," and that "nothing" itself to become the building material for "all” (1-2). Identifying the paradox, perhaps, as that which begins the Biblical account of the Creation.
He remarks, “To find out the one is to possess the All”. The experience of a unifying vision is generally asserted by all the mystics of different ages and varied cultures. There is a common agreement among the religious mystics as regard the apprehension of a divine unity; there have been divergent approaches in the interpretation of the Nature as this unity. Some mystics assert the vision of an individual unity in which the distinction of subject and object is obliterated and what is achieved is an impersonal one.
Merging Media Corporations are in recent days becoming ever more controversial for the fact they control a massive amount of information reaching the public. With the recent merging of ABC and Disney, concern has grown about whether the information from all the news programs and magazines might not be telling the whole story all of the time.
would like to highlight the work of Amnesty International and the significant contribution it makes in rescuing many disadvantaged people from extremely challenging circumstances in many parts of the world. The word amnesty is defined as “the act of an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted to a large group of individuals” (n.d.). Amnesty describes “an act of clemency by an authority (as a government) by which pardon is granted especially to a group of individuals” (n.d.). The name of the organization is implicit of its role and the scale on which it carries out its responsibilities. In order to carry out its work effectively with its ears close to the ground, they have a representative office in all countries. The nomenclature