William James and Buddhism

American Pragmatism and the Orient

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4371779
AutoresDavid Scott (0000-0002-4176-0466, Brunel University of London, autor de correspondencia)
Año2000
Volumen30
Número4
Páginas333-352
Fecha de publicación2000-10-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaReligion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0048-721X • E-ISSN: 1096-1151
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1006/reli.2000.0292
OpenAlexW2056066158
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas50

William James pursued far-ranging enquiries in America across the fields of psychology, philosophy and religious studies between 1890 and 1910. Historical and comparative overlaps emerge between James and Buddhism from these pursuits. This article first sets out James' own nineteenth-century American context. There follows James' own more explicit references to Buddhism, which particularly focused on the meaning of the term ‘religion’ and on specific elements of Buddhist teachings. In turn comes a substantive comparative look at certain themes in both James and Buddhism, namely, ‘consciousness’, ‘integration’ and ‘criteria of truth claims’. The common functionalist tendencies in James and Buddhism are highlighted. Finally, the article attempts a wider look at the interaction between American thought and Buddhism during the twentieth century. This interaction is exemplified by John Dewey, Charles Hartshorne, Daisetz Suzuki, Kitaro Nishida and David Kalupahana, and also across the fields of psychology, pragmatism and process philosophy. In all of these areas James emerges as a significant figure for studying American thought and Buddhism

Buddhism · Buddhist philosophy · Consciousness · Context (archaeology) · Epistemology · Meaning (existential) · Pragmatism · Sociology · Theology · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Philosophy · Pragmatism in Philosophy and Education · Religious studies · Study and Philosophy of Religion