Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198077336
- eISBN:
- 9780199081530
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077336.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter briefly discusses judgment, which ascertains the qualifiers of an object. It relates Bhattacharyya's opinion on reverential contemplation, and emphasises that the relation found in moral ...
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This chapter briefly discusses judgment, which ascertains the qualifiers of an object. It relates Bhattacharyya's opinion on reverential contemplation, and emphasises that the relation found in moral judgments is only an increase of the knowledge of the self, which in turn serves as the Implication of Kantian philosophy. This chapter determines that a study of certitudes is a development of judgment as reverence and knowledge of the self as willing. It notes that while this development is not synthetic, it still serves as only an analysis of knowledge of the self. It also discusses the concepts of schematic judgment (where belief in the quantitative nature is not necessarily included in the belief in objecthood) and analytic judgment (where the predicate is adjectival or is a noun).Less
This chapter briefly discusses judgment, which ascertains the qualifiers of an object. It relates Bhattacharyya's opinion on reverential contemplation, and emphasises that the relation found in moral judgments is only an increase of the knowledge of the self, which in turn serves as the Implication of Kantian philosophy. This chapter determines that a study of certitudes is a development of judgment as reverence and knowledge of the self as willing. It notes that while this development is not synthetic, it still serves as only an analysis of knowledge of the self. It also discusses the concepts of schematic judgment (where belief in the quantitative nature is not necessarily included in the belief in objecthood) and analytic judgment (where the predicate is adjectival or is a noun).
Anthony Kenny
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198240174
- eISBN:
- 9780191680106
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198240174.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
Aristotle's teaching on the subject of happiness has been a topic of intense philosophical debate. Did he hold that happiness consists in the exercise of all the virtues, moral and intellectual, or ...
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Aristotle's teaching on the subject of happiness has been a topic of intense philosophical debate. Did he hold that happiness consists in the exercise of all the virtues, moral and intellectual, or that supreme happiness is to be found only in the practice of philosophical contemplation? The question is vital to the relevance of his ethics today. The author of this title helped to set the terms of this debate a quarter of a century ago. Later, in The Aristotelian Ethics (Clarendon Press, 1978), he argued that Aristotle's Eudemian Ethics had no less a claim than the better-known Nicomachean Ethics to be taken as a late and definitive statement of Aristotle's position. This new book refines a view of the relationship between the two treatises and shows how to reach a consensus on the interpretation of the texts. Aristotle's admirers struggle to read a comprehensive account of the supreme happiness into the Nicomachean Ethics: this book argues that those who are prepared to take the neglected Eudemian Ethics with equal seriousness are able to preserve their admiration intact without doing violence to any of the relevant texts.Less
Aristotle's teaching on the subject of happiness has been a topic of intense philosophical debate. Did he hold that happiness consists in the exercise of all the virtues, moral and intellectual, or that supreme happiness is to be found only in the practice of philosophical contemplation? The question is vital to the relevance of his ethics today. The author of this title helped to set the terms of this debate a quarter of a century ago. Later, in The Aristotelian Ethics (Clarendon Press, 1978), he argued that Aristotle's Eudemian Ethics had no less a claim than the better-known Nicomachean Ethics to be taken as a late and definitive statement of Aristotle's position. This new book refines a view of the relationship between the two treatises and shows how to reach a consensus on the interpretation of the texts. Aristotle's admirers struggle to read a comprehensive account of the supreme happiness into the Nicomachean Ethics: this book argues that those who are prepared to take the neglected Eudemian Ethics with equal seriousness are able to preserve their admiration intact without doing violence to any of the relevant texts.
Joseph Pilsner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- May 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199286058
- eISBN:
- 9780191603808
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199286051.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
The importance of specification of human actions in Aquinas becomes clearer when one recognizes the indispensable role that human actions play in his moral theory as a whole. For Aquinas, human ...
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The importance of specification of human actions in Aquinas becomes clearer when one recognizes the indispensable role that human actions play in his moral theory as a whole. For Aquinas, human actions come to be through a human agent’s free self-determination; a human agent has mastery over these actions and bears responsibility for them. The goal of all human life is happiness, and this consists in a perpetual human action of knowing God ‘as he is’ in heaven. In this life, a person can share in the happiness found in God — though imperfectly — by the human actions of hope, faith, contemplation, and charity. Created goods can contribute to temporal happiness in their own way, so long as the human actions by which these goods are used or enjoyed accord with God’s will.Less
The importance of specification of human actions in Aquinas becomes clearer when one recognizes the indispensable role that human actions play in his moral theory as a whole. For Aquinas, human actions come to be through a human agent’s free self-determination; a human agent has mastery over these actions and bears responsibility for them. The goal of all human life is happiness, and this consists in a perpetual human action of knowing God ‘as he is’ in heaven. In this life, a person can share in the happiness found in God — though imperfectly — by the human actions of hope, faith, contemplation, and charity. Created goods can contribute to temporal happiness in their own way, so long as the human actions by which these goods are used or enjoyed accord with God’s will.
Michael Ward
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195313871
- eISBN:
- 9780199871964
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195313871.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
The Chronicles of Narnia present problems of occasion, composition, and reception, and theories have been advanced as to what might give the seven books coherence despite their superficial ...
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The Chronicles of Narnia present problems of occasion, composition, and reception, and theories have been advanced as to what might give the seven books coherence despite their superficial heterogeneity. Christological and numerological theories have been advanced. Lewis's interest in literary atmosphere (what he called ‘the kappa element’) and in the philosophical distinction between Enjoyment and Contemplation are pertinent to this discussion. Lewis was temperamentally a secretive man and, as a medievalist, was professionally occupied with texts which prized the cryptic and the multivalent. His deep and lifelong immersion in the planets of the medieval cosmos and the silent music of the spheres is especially relevant in this connection.Less
The Chronicles of Narnia present problems of occasion, composition, and reception, and theories have been advanced as to what might give the seven books coherence despite their superficial heterogeneity. Christological and numerological theories have been advanced. Lewis's interest in literary atmosphere (what he called ‘the kappa element’) and in the philosophical distinction between Enjoyment and Contemplation are pertinent to this discussion. Lewis was temperamentally a secretive man and, as a medievalist, was professionally occupied with texts which prized the cryptic and the multivalent. His deep and lifelong immersion in the planets of the medieval cosmos and the silent music of the spheres is especially relevant in this connection.
Michael Ward
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195313871
- eISBN:
- 9780199871964
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195313871.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
The problem of reception, which has already been partly solved by addressing the problems of occasion and composition, is further solved by a consideration of how the fairy‐tale genre builds a bridge ...
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The problem of reception, which has already been partly solved by addressing the problems of occasion and composition, is further solved by a consideration of how the fairy‐tale genre builds a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious mind and by the fact that the two things which the Narniad implicitly conveys (the argument from Miracles and the planetary archetypes) are themselves best understood through Enjoyment, not Contemplation. Objections considered, such as ‘Are the Chronicles properly understood as allegory rather than as symbol?’ and ‘Does not disclosure of this secret frustrate Lewis's imaginative purposes?’ His abiding interest in models of the universe and the myths that follow in the wake of scientific advances.Less
The problem of reception, which has already been partly solved by addressing the problems of occasion and composition, is further solved by a consideration of how the fairy‐tale genre builds a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious mind and by the fact that the two things which the Narniad implicitly conveys (the argument from Miracles and the planetary archetypes) are themselves best understood through Enjoyment, not Contemplation. Objections considered, such as ‘Are the Chronicles properly understood as allegory rather than as symbol?’ and ‘Does not disclosure of this secret frustrate Lewis's imaginative purposes?’ His abiding interest in models of the universe and the myths that follow in the wake of scientific advances.
Gregory A. Beeley
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195313970
- eISBN:
- 9780199871827
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195313970.003.0002
- Subject:
- Religion, Church History
This chapter examines the spiritual dialectic of purification and illumination, or praxis and theoria, within which Christians come to know God. In turn, it addresses Gregory's response to the ...
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This chapter examines the spiritual dialectic of purification and illumination, or praxis and theoria, within which Christians come to know God. In turn, it addresses Gregory's response to the Eunomians; the theological example of Moses; Gregory's missionary approach to Greek culture; his pioneering style of moderate Christian monasticism or “philosophy,” defined as a middle path between solitude and public service; his use of Plato and Plotinus compared to the Bible; the respective roles of the human body and soul in purification; the transcendence and incomprehensibility of God; God's grace; the central place of Christian baptism; the question of Gregory's apophaticism; the positive knowledge of the divine light; the relationship between faith and reason; and the basis of Christian theology in the divine economy of salvationLess
This chapter examines the spiritual dialectic of purification and illumination, or praxis and theoria, within which Christians come to know God. In turn, it addresses Gregory's response to the Eunomians; the theological example of Moses; Gregory's missionary approach to Greek culture; his pioneering style of moderate Christian monasticism or “philosophy,” defined as a middle path between solitude and public service; his use of Plato and Plotinus compared to the Bible; the respective roles of the human body and soul in purification; the transcendence and incomprehensibility of God; God's grace; the central place of Christian baptism; the question of Gregory's apophaticism; the positive knowledge of the divine light; the relationship between faith and reason; and the basis of Christian theology in the divine economy of salvation
Krishnachandra Bhattacharyya
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780198077336
- eISBN:
- 9780199081530
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198077336.003.0003
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Metaphysics/Epistemology
This chapter presents an examination of feeling, specifically the classification of judgments into reflective and determinative. It describes the determinative judgments as possessing adjectival ...
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This chapter presents an examination of feeling, specifically the classification of judgments into reflective and determinative. It describes the determinative judgments as possessing adjectival predicates and substantive subjects, while the reflective judgments have substantive predicates and qualifying particulars. It then discusses in detail the reflective-determinative divide, where it takes note of the contemplation of Ideals, where the Ideal is considered to be real, and the two types of secondary contemplation on the Self. It also discusses the concepts of explicit and implicit judgments, reverential contemplation, and blissful contemplation. The next section examines the various kinds of aesthetic judgments. Here, the discussion compares and contrasts the concepts of moral and cognitive judgments. This chapter concludes with a section on moral contemplation and moral judgment.Less
This chapter presents an examination of feeling, specifically the classification of judgments into reflective and determinative. It describes the determinative judgments as possessing adjectival predicates and substantive subjects, while the reflective judgments have substantive predicates and qualifying particulars. It then discusses in detail the reflective-determinative divide, where it takes note of the contemplation of Ideals, where the Ideal is considered to be real, and the two types of secondary contemplation on the Self. It also discusses the concepts of explicit and implicit judgments, reverential contemplation, and blissful contemplation. The next section examines the various kinds of aesthetic judgments. Here, the discussion compares and contrasts the concepts of moral and cognitive judgments. This chapter concludes with a section on moral contemplation and moral judgment.
William Johnston
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823220748
- eISBN:
- 9780823236824
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823220748.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology
“The Cloud of Unknowing” was the work of an unknown 14th-century English writer with a powerful message of God's unconditional love in the face of despair. This book's theological treatment of this ...
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“The Cloud of Unknowing” was the work of an unknown 14th-century English writer with a powerful message of God's unconditional love in the face of despair. This book's theological treatment of this and other works by the same writer makes a conscious comparison with Oriental ways of contemplation.Less
“The Cloud of Unknowing” was the work of an unknown 14th-century English writer with a powerful message of God's unconditional love in the face of despair. This book's theological treatment of this and other works by the same writer makes a conscious comparison with Oriental ways of contemplation.
Frisbee C. C. Sheffield
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199286775
- eISBN:
- 9780191713194
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199286775.003.0005
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Ancient Greek, Roman, and Early Christian Philosophy
This chapter explores Socrates argument for the proper activity of eros: philosophical activity. Since eudaimonia is the aim of all eros and its proper end (telos), our choice of good must be one ...
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This chapter explores Socrates argument for the proper activity of eros: philosophical activity. Since eudaimonia is the aim of all eros and its proper end (telos), our choice of good must be one that will satisfy this desire: it must be a good whose possession no longer requires us to ask of the agent what she wants in pursuing it, something desired for its own sake, a final good. It is argued that the issue that structures the division of the productive activities of different desiring agents into the lower and higher mysteries is what we might term a division of ends. The desiring agents of the lower mysteries pursue things that are chosen for the sake of something higher, whilst the desiring agent of the higher mysteries pursues that which is chosen for its own sake. The chapter goes on to give some content to this idea, and argues that contemplation of a supremely valuable object — the Form of beauty — satisfies the criterion for being a final good. Contemplative activity is not desired for anything beyond itself, and it is a secure good in the sense that it is true, and a state of the agent's own soul, not dependent on external events for its possession. It is also the fulfilment of our nature and godlike.Less
This chapter explores Socrates argument for the proper activity of eros: philosophical activity. Since eudaimonia is the aim of all eros and its proper end (telos), our choice of good must be one that will satisfy this desire: it must be a good whose possession no longer requires us to ask of the agent what she wants in pursuing it, something desired for its own sake, a final good. It is argued that the issue that structures the division of the productive activities of different desiring agents into the lower and higher mysteries is what we might term a division of ends. The desiring agents of the lower mysteries pursue things that are chosen for the sake of something higher, whilst the desiring agent of the higher mysteries pursues that which is chosen for its own sake. The chapter goes on to give some content to this idea, and argues that contemplation of a supremely valuable object — the Form of beauty — satisfies the criterion for being a final good. Contemplative activity is not desired for anything beyond itself, and it is a secure good in the sense that it is true, and a state of the agent's own soul, not dependent on external events for its possession. It is also the fulfilment of our nature and godlike.
Dale S. Wright
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195382013
- eISBN:
- 9780199870332
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195382013.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Buddhism
Chapter 5 is divided into two sections. The first section presents an overview of the Mahayana Buddhist teachings on the perfection of meditation, dhyānapāramitā. The second section inquires into ...
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Chapter 5 is divided into two sections. The first section presents an overview of the Mahayana Buddhist teachings on the perfection of meditation, dhyānapāramitā. The second section inquires into various ways to conceive of contemplative practice in the contemporary, global world. It analyzes meditation at three levels of human consciousness—immediate experience, reflective experience, and reflexivity, or self‐awareness. The chapter reflects on the relations between meditation and philosophy.Less
Chapter 5 is divided into two sections. The first section presents an overview of the Mahayana Buddhist teachings on the perfection of meditation, dhyānapāramitā. The second section inquires into various ways to conceive of contemplative practice in the contemporary, global world. It analyzes meditation at three levels of human consciousness—immediate experience, reflective experience, and reflexivity, or self‐awareness. The chapter reflects on the relations between meditation and philosophy.
Hans Boersma
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199229642
- eISBN:
- 9780191710773
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199229642.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Theology, Church History
This chapter shows that Hans Urs von Balthasar and Marie-Dominique Chenu were particularly insistent on the goodness of the created order. Their sacramental approach highlighted the ‘downward’ ...
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This chapter shows that Hans Urs von Balthasar and Marie-Dominique Chenu were particularly insistent on the goodness of the created order. Their sacramental approach highlighted the ‘downward’ direction of grace, and they were more insistent than de Lubac and Bouillard on the autonomy of the created order. Balthasar's reading of Irenaeus, Denys, and Maximus regarded analogy of being as the key to their theology, a doctrine Balthasar also defended in dialogue with Karl Barth. At the same time, Balthasar had deep appreciation for Barth's starting-point in Christology. The sacramental character of Chenu's theology stemmed from his focus on theology as contemplation and from his reliance on Denys's symbolism. At the same time, Chenu's accentuation of the autonomy of the created order and his positive evaluation of the desacralizing that set in during the High Middle Ages meant that his sacramental ontology was not always consistent.Less
This chapter shows that Hans Urs von Balthasar and Marie-Dominique Chenu were particularly insistent on the goodness of the created order. Their sacramental approach highlighted the ‘downward’ direction of grace, and they were more insistent than de Lubac and Bouillard on the autonomy of the created order. Balthasar's reading of Irenaeus, Denys, and Maximus regarded analogy of being as the key to their theology, a doctrine Balthasar also defended in dialogue with Karl Barth. At the same time, Balthasar had deep appreciation for Barth's starting-point in Christology. The sacramental character of Chenu's theology stemmed from his focus on theology as contemplation and from his reliance on Denys's symbolism. At the same time, Chenu's accentuation of the autonomy of the created order and his positive evaluation of the desacralizing that set in during the High Middle Ages meant that his sacramental ontology was not always consistent.
John Gatta
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- January 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195165050
- eISBN:
- 9780199835140
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195165055.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Literature
The longstanding European tradition of meditating on creatures of the phenomenal world carried both religious and ecological significance for New England Puritans, who were peculiarly disposed to ...
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The longstanding European tradition of meditating on creatures of the phenomenal world carried both religious and ecological significance for New England Puritans, who were peculiarly disposed to ponder the relation between earth’s visible and invisible domains. This disposition is exemplified by the poetry of meditation composed by colonial writers such as Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet. Bradstreet’s meditative poem “Contemplations” is interpreted ecocritically, so as to probe not only the spirituality of the world that the poet sets forth, but also the discretely material spirit of place that helped inspire her reflections. Outside the Puritan colonies, other forms of ecospirituality can be discerned in the Quaker-inspired prose writings of naturalist William Bartram and social reformer John Woolman. Both exponents of Middle Atlantic Quaker piety envisioned a divine love that encompasses animals as well as humans, and that thereby extends humanity’s ethical responsibility beyond social boundaries to the “brute creatures.”Less
The longstanding European tradition of meditating on creatures of the phenomenal world carried both religious and ecological significance for New England Puritans, who were peculiarly disposed to ponder the relation between earth’s visible and invisible domains. This disposition is exemplified by the poetry of meditation composed by colonial writers such as Edward Taylor and Anne Bradstreet. Bradstreet’s meditative poem “Contemplations” is interpreted ecocritically, so as to probe not only the spirituality of the world that the poet sets forth, but also the discretely material spirit of place that helped inspire her reflections. Outside the Puritan colonies, other forms of ecospirituality can be discerned in the Quaker-inspired prose writings of naturalist William Bartram and social reformer John Woolman. Both exponents of Middle Atlantic Quaker piety envisioned a divine love that encompasses animals as well as humans, and that thereby extends humanity’s ethical responsibility beyond social boundaries to the “brute creatures.”
Howard J. Curzer
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199693726
- eISBN:
- 9780191738890
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199693726.003.0018
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
An enormous amount has been written about Aristotle’s account of happiness, almost all of it focused on the question of whether the supremely happy life of X.6–8 is a contemplative life or a ...
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An enormous amount has been written about Aristotle’s account of happiness, almost all of it focused on the question of whether the supremely happy life of X.6–8 is a contemplative life or a contemplative/ethical blend. Each interpretation faces serious problems. This chapter goes between the horns by taking Aristotle to be advocating a life of thoughtful, morally virtuous activity. Since the activity of reflection is what makes the agent happy, this life is rightly called contemplative. But since reflection can be performed along with almost all morally virtuous activity, contemplators need not strive to minimize their morally virtuous activity in order to maximize their contemplation.Less
An enormous amount has been written about Aristotle’s account of happiness, almost all of it focused on the question of whether the supremely happy life of X.6–8 is a contemplative life or a contemplative/ethical blend. Each interpretation faces serious problems. This chapter goes between the horns by taking Aristotle to be advocating a life of thoughtful, morally virtuous activity. Since the activity of reflection is what makes the agent happy, this life is rightly called contemplative. But since reflection can be performed along with almost all morally virtuous activity, contemplators need not strive to minimize their morally virtuous activity in order to maximize their contemplation.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804748636
- eISBN:
- 9780804779395
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804748636.003.0015
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This chapter deals with the proper duration of a renga session and describes the “mind-ground” (known as shinji in Sasamegoto II) upon which the process of poetic composition transpires. In this ...
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This chapter deals with the proper duration of a renga session and describes the “mind-ground” (known as shinji in Sasamegoto II) upon which the process of poetic composition transpires. In this process, one enters a state of introspection (chinshi) whereby the mind becomes minutely absorbed in and is rendered tranquil by beauty (kokoro o hosoku en ni nodomete or kokoro o torakete). This mental activity clearly seeks to dissolve the mind (the divisive egoistic mind) in the process of becoming minutely permeated by the object of its contemplation. Shinkei's view of the poetic process is similar to Lord Teika's concept of ushintei (Style of Meditation) as representing the essential nature (hon'i) of poetry.Less
This chapter deals with the proper duration of a renga session and describes the “mind-ground” (known as shinji in Sasamegoto II) upon which the process of poetic composition transpires. In this process, one enters a state of introspection (chinshi) whereby the mind becomes minutely absorbed in and is rendered tranquil by beauty (kokoro o hosoku en ni nodomete or kokoro o torakete). This mental activity clearly seeks to dissolve the mind (the divisive egoistic mind) in the process of becoming minutely permeated by the object of its contemplation. Shinkei's view of the poetic process is similar to Lord Teika's concept of ushintei (Style of Meditation) as representing the essential nature (hon'i) of poetry.
Anthony Curtis Adler
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780823270798
- eISBN:
- 9780823270842
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823270798.003.0013
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
Concepts of criticism; Language is the … of being; Satanic laughter; Techniques of writing; Vita contemplativa; The raccoon trap
Concepts of criticism; Language is the … of being; Satanic laughter; Techniques of writing; Vita contemplativa; The raccoon trap
JOHN COTTINGHAM
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780197264201
- eISBN:
- 9780191734670
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197264201.003.0002
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter examines contemplation and control in Cartesian philosophy and sets out some of the Platonic strands in Descartes’ cosmology, metaphysics and moral theory. It argues that Descartes’ ...
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This chapter examines contemplation and control in Cartesian philosophy and sets out some of the Platonic strands in Descartes’ cosmology, metaphysics and moral theory. It argues that Descartes’ philosophy is deeply imbued with ancient and medieval views of humanity’s place in the divine order, and yet is also the harbinger of a modern conception of a value-neutral and impersonal natural universe. It considers the tension between Descartes’ natural philosophy and account of physical law and suggests that these two mindsets represent a certain opposition within people’s thinking that still needs a resolution.Less
This chapter examines contemplation and control in Cartesian philosophy and sets out some of the Platonic strands in Descartes’ cosmology, metaphysics and moral theory. It argues that Descartes’ philosophy is deeply imbued with ancient and medieval views of humanity’s place in the divine order, and yet is also the harbinger of a modern conception of a value-neutral and impersonal natural universe. It considers the tension between Descartes’ natural philosophy and account of physical law and suggests that these two mindsets represent a certain opposition within people’s thinking that still needs a resolution.
Ann Jefferson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199270842
- eISBN:
- 9780191710292
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199270842.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter offers an account of Les Contemplations in terms of the way that Hugo exploits a variety of different biographical models (memoir, diary) and also alternates between first- and ...
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This chapter offers an account of Les Contemplations in terms of the way that Hugo exploits a variety of different biographical models (memoir, diary) and also alternates between first- and third-person narrative perspectives. It traces the progressive scaling up of the framework in which the life is presented, as the remit of poetry is expanded from the personal to the transcendental. Much is made of the blurring of the boundaries between the poet's self and the figures he invokes or describes. The fictitious dating of the poems is discussed as a major means whereby Hugo constructs a biographical narrative for the collection. The use that Hugo made of his own person as a means of extending the limits of poetry was what Mallarmé hailed in Hugo when he described him as having been ‘poetry in person’ and taken poetry to a limit that cannot be repeated.Less
This chapter offers an account of Les Contemplations in terms of the way that Hugo exploits a variety of different biographical models (memoir, diary) and also alternates between first- and third-person narrative perspectives. It traces the progressive scaling up of the framework in which the life is presented, as the remit of poetry is expanded from the personal to the transcendental. Much is made of the blurring of the boundaries between the poet's self and the figures he invokes or describes. The fictitious dating of the poems is discussed as a major means whereby Hugo constructs a biographical narrative for the collection. The use that Hugo made of his own person as a means of extending the limits of poetry was what Mallarmé hailed in Hugo when he described him as having been ‘poetry in person’ and taken poetry to a limit that cannot be repeated.
Demetrios S. Katos
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199696963
- eISBN:
- 9780191731969
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199696963.003.0006
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies, Church History
This chapter explores the dynamics of Palladius’ model asceticism and its indebtedness to Origen and especially Evagrius of Pontus. It demonstrates that Palladius adapted an Evagrian understanding of ...
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This chapter explores the dynamics of Palladius’ model asceticism and its indebtedness to Origen and especially Evagrius of Pontus. It demonstrates that Palladius adapted an Evagrian understanding of spiritual progress, one that began with physical asceticism, progressed to the training of the mind in knowledge (gnosis) by the reading of scripture, and terminated at the contemplation of God in prayer. Palladius adapted many Evagrian concepts such as the passions, the eight thoughts (logismoi), apatheia, and he possessed a detailed knowledge of Origen’s biblical commentaries and interpretation. This chapter concludes by examining Palladius’ attention to contemplation and ecstatic prayer, and suggests that the practice of imageless prayer was an expression of complete human receptivity to divine life.Less
This chapter explores the dynamics of Palladius’ model asceticism and its indebtedness to Origen and especially Evagrius of Pontus. It demonstrates that Palladius adapted an Evagrian understanding of spiritual progress, one that began with physical asceticism, progressed to the training of the mind in knowledge (gnosis) by the reading of scripture, and terminated at the contemplation of God in prayer. Palladius adapted many Evagrian concepts such as the passions, the eight thoughts (logismoi), apatheia, and he possessed a detailed knowledge of Origen’s biblical commentaries and interpretation. This chapter concludes by examining Palladius’ attention to contemplation and ecstatic prayer, and suggests that the practice of imageless prayer was an expression of complete human receptivity to divine life.
Ariel Glucklich
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780300212099
- eISBN:
- 9780300231373
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300212099.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Sociology of Religion
Everyday Mysticism is a close look at a school for the study of the self in the deep Israeli desert. The school, which was established in the community of Neot Smadar in 1989, assumes the external ...
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Everyday Mysticism is a close look at a school for the study of the self in the deep Israeli desert. The school, which was established in the community of Neot Smadar in 1989, assumes the external form of a kibbutz, but is a contemplative community for individuals who seek to become aware of the devastating effects of mechanical thinking. The author spent several summers working in the community and describes, as a participant, the way that contemplative practice—everyday mysticism—shapes the work environment, the community structure and human relationships. The book also provides detailed examples of the spiritual work that was instituted by the founder of the school, Yossef Safra, whose vision is compared with ancient Buddhist and Hindu philosophers. That spiritual work takes place in conversations and dialogues where participants practice the art of listening as a meditative discipline while also learning to observe in fine detail the working of the conscious mind. These contemplative practices define the nature of community of Neot Smadar as an extended family were everyday mysticism prevails.
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Everyday Mysticism is a close look at a school for the study of the self in the deep Israeli desert. The school, which was established in the community of Neot Smadar in 1989, assumes the external form of a kibbutz, but is a contemplative community for individuals who seek to become aware of the devastating effects of mechanical thinking. The author spent several summers working in the community and describes, as a participant, the way that contemplative practice—everyday mysticism—shapes the work environment, the community structure and human relationships. The book also provides detailed examples of the spiritual work that was instituted by the founder of the school, Yossef Safra, whose vision is compared with ancient Buddhist and Hindu philosophers. That spiritual work takes place in conversations and dialogues where participants practice the art of listening as a meditative discipline while also learning to observe in fine detail the working of the conscious mind. These contemplative practices define the nature of community of Neot Smadar as an extended family were everyday mysticism prevails.
Scott Curtis
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780231134033
- eISBN:
- 9780231508636
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231134033.003.0005
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Chapter Four examines debates about the aesthetic value of the cinematic experience in Germany from 1907 to 1914. It argues that intellectuals were most concerned about film’s implications for ...
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Chapter Four examines debates about the aesthetic value of the cinematic experience in Germany from 1907 to 1914. It argues that intellectuals were most concerned about film’s implications for aesthetic contemplation, and that these pre-WWI debates should reconfigure our understanding of later theories of contemplation and distraction.Less
Chapter Four examines debates about the aesthetic value of the cinematic experience in Germany from 1907 to 1914. It argues that intellectuals were most concerned about film’s implications for aesthetic contemplation, and that these pre-WWI debates should reconfigure our understanding of later theories of contemplation and distraction.
