Abstract

Originally published in 1972, Mysticism and Morals addressed those individuals who, in response to the discord and chaos that pervaded American society at that time, were tempted to seek moral guidance in the older and seemingly wiser civilizations of the East. But, however seductive and profound Oriental systems of thought may be, the moral codes of Eastern thought cannot, in principle, Danto contends, be imported into our own Western culture. "No one," he concludes in the original preface, "can save us but ourselves." Fifteen years later, with the printing of this second, Morningside edition, this contention is still apropos. The fascination with things Eastern has spilled out from the counterculture into the mainstream of American society, and involves not only cuisine, medicinal practices, and meditation techniques, but also management theories, and, most importantly, in Danto's view, philosophical perspectives.