Abstract

This work suggests that the systematic examination of three models for the understanding of self in relation to the Other can be referred to as an approach to an ecology of self and Other. The models chosen for examination are Sartrean Existentialism, Kyoto School Zen, and Deleuzean/Braidottian nomadology. The examination of ecologies of self and Other aspires to reveal the subtleties of the conception of the self and how it then extends that conception to its conception and perception of the Other. Furthermore, it suggests that a successful ecology of self and Other is one which incorporates the existential self-determinative qualities of Sartrean existentialism with some aspects of the no-self of the Kyoto School which emerge from the dynamics of sunyata and kenosis, but finds that the Sartrean model succumbs to the Western fetish with dualism and the Kyoto School model goes too far in suggesting the model of no-self as a model for the overcoming of dualism. It is suggested that a successful ecology of self and Other would also consider seriously the plight of the Other as a subjective entity which maintains its differentiating qualities even as it gains ontological parity with notions of self conceived by dominant cultures. The conclusion drawn here is that the Deleuzean/Braidottian model is most successful at this task. The project is undertaken with the Braidottian notion of embodiment in mind. In other words, the project is at least as much a personal one as it is an academic one