Recent discussions of self-realization have devolved into unscientific theories of self-help. However, this vague and often misused concept is connected to many important individual and social problems. As long as its meaning remains unclear, it can be abused for social, political, and commercial malpractices. To combat this issue, this book shares perspectives from scholars of various philosophical traditions. Each chapter takes new steps in asking what the meaning of self-realization is–both in terms of what it means to understand who or (...) what one is, and also in terms of how one can, or should, fulfilll oneself. The conceptual elucidations achieved from both theoretical and practical perspectives allow for a more mature awareness of how to deal with discourses on self-realization and, in any case, can help to demystify the subject. (shrink)

In this paper, we will revisit the relation between the respective conceptions of pure experience of Nishida Kitaro and William James. As various authors have previously shown, comparing Nishida and James can not only help us better understand both of their specific understandings of pure experience, and consequently its position within their respective enterprises, but also give a platform with which to see how these two authors could contribute to contemporary discussions on philosophical methodology. However, despite the long history of (...) comparative research on these two thinkers, there is still no consensus about the extent to which Nishida's philosophy actually resembles James' work at all. Was Nishida's interest in James' work found only in superficial similarities between two authors interested in overcoming the subject–object distinction? Or did Nishida attempt to somehow develop or radicalize James' work, taking his notion of pure experience into the realm of religion and metaphysics? In this contribution, we will agree with previous authors who have argued that Nishida is best understood as trying to go beyond or develop James' work. However, we will make this claim with the caveat that James had good reason not to take the avenues Nishida pursued, and that Nishida's attempt to radicalize some ideas in James may have led to some difficult points within his early philosophy. (shrink)

In this contribution, I seek to highlight two different understandings of the self that can be found in Nishida Kitarō’s An Inquiry into the Good and show how they relate to one another to form a novel view of selfhood. As several scholars are already aware, Nishida appears inconsistent about how he describes terms relating to our “true” self in his early work, discussing it both as a particular state of consciousness in which unity between subject and object has been (...) achieved and the fundamental activity that generates meaning in otherwise mute experience. While most interpreters have tended to limit themselves to mentioning only one outlook on the self or the other, I believe this is a mistake. Indeed, as I shall argue in this contribution, Nishida’s early philosophy can only be read fruitfully if these two seemingly different interpretations of the “true self” are reconciled with one another. (shrink)

Within the history of philosophy and across different cultures, few questions have been raised as frequently as what the realization of oneself means. Certainly, one of the very driving forces of philosophy seems to be the clarification of the self and its life. However, in spite of this, within recent years, there have been few serious critical and philosophical efforts to discuss what exactly it means to realize oneself. To this degree, there is a need to critically assess the meaning (...) of self-realization. What we propose to do, then, is to tackle this problem, from a variety of viewpoints. It is from this starting point that we hope to introduce the sprawling question of self-realization, as well as its connection to a variety of intellectual traditions. (shrink)

As technology continues to grow (and sex-robots gain a more prominent position in our society), so too does concern about the way they will impact our lives and our sexuality. While many ethicists have started to assess what this impact could be (and if it would be positive or negative), the challenges and opportunities presented by sex-robots span over a wide range of topics and cannot be assessed easily. Hence, in this paper, I will attempt to categorize the main questions (...) concerning the ethics of sexual robotics in order to help ethicists gather their thoughts on this new technology. While doing so, I will principally identify four overarching issues: (1) how robots’ representation of human sexuality affects human gender issues; (2) how robots could potentially be utilized for medical purposes; (3) if robots could possibly deceive their users; (4) if sex-robots could end up as a new form of sex-slaves. (shrink)

In this contribution, I will use Tanabe Hajime’s Philosophy as Metanoetics as a guide to explore the possibility that, in certain cases, self-realization can only be achieved via self-abandonment. Specifically, I shall rely on Tanabe’s notion of the self-awareness of absolute nothingness to show that, specifically in cases in which the subject has met with their own relativity and powerlessness, a switch from active attempts at self-realization to a passive acceptance of a power greater than oneself can be the key (...) to finding a new form of self-realization and forming new relationships with other human beings. While analyzing Tanabe’s texts, I shall also reference group therapy organizations for substance abuse treatment in order to give my statements a more concrete basis. (shrink)

This book describes the development of economic, demographic and social statistics in the British Isles from the mid-seventeenth century to the end of the nineteenth as represented by the work of twelve pioneers in these fields. Its most distinctive feature is its tables, which bring together in clear and succinct form an impressive body of data collected from a large number of disparate sources and are complemented by an exhaustive description of their historical context. An important aspect of the book (...) is the short biographies that open each chapter and bring to life the personalities of its central characters. (shrink)

Nishida Kitaro is widely considered as the first original philosopher in modern Japan. Addressing this claim, Richard Stone critically examines Nishida's relation to his contemporary philosophers in the Meiji era (1868-1912), highlighting the continuity, difference and relationships between them. He argues that ideas starting from early Meiji philosophers were gradually given more rigorous treatment over the course of the era, eventually culminating in Nishida's early philosophy.The Origins of Modern Japanese Philosophy offers an engaging insight into the Meiji period, bringing Nishida's (...) work it into dialogue with his predecessors. (shrink)

In this paper I have tried to bring together various forms of input-output accounting and analysis suited to dynamic problems. In the usual, static accounting system, the entries all relate to a single time-period and the set of accounts is completely closed. In the alternative, dynamic system suggested here, the inputs for a given period come, either in whole or in part, from the preceding period and the outputs go, either in whole or in part, to the succeeding period.Two types (...) of model can be built within the framework of this dynamic accounting structure: the conventional input-output model, in which the input coefficients are fixed; and an allocation model, in which the output co-efficients are fixed. The conventional model is appropriate to the analysis of production flows; the allocation model to that of demographic flows. These two models provide us with the main building blocks for an educational model, since as far as the human inputs are concerned the educational system is simply a partition of the demographic system, and as far as the economic inputs are concerned it is a partition of the productive system. A first attempt at combining the two was described in my earlier article. (shrink)