This collection expands the kinds of concepts and practices that are usually considered in Japanese aesthetics, as well as shedding light on aesthetic concepts and practices from Western artistic traditions. The study of Japanese aesthetic traditions shows the deep connections between aesthetics, ethics, and politics, and the contributors take a self-consciously cosmopolitan approach to philosophizing on the topic. For instance, they understand Japanese aesthetics in relation not only to Shinto and Buddhist religious traditions that heavily inform both traditional and modern works but also to Early Indian Buddhism and to historical and contemporary European philosophy. Edited by A. Minh Nguyen and Yarran Hominh, the collection highlights the relational holism—process, impermanence, relationality—of artistic works, and it takes a distinctly philosophical approach, but one that problematizes distinctions between aesthetics, ethics, metaphysics, and politics. The book exemplifies the philosophical and conceptual breadth and importance of Japanese aesthetics.
A. Minh Nguyen is professor of philosophy at Florida Gulf Coast University, USA. Yarran Hominh is assistant professor of philosophy at Bard College, USA.
List of IllustrationsPrefaceIntroduction: Japanese Aesthetics from a Cosmopolitan Point of View, Yarran Hominh, Bard College, USA and A. Minh Nguyen, Florida Gulf Coast University, USAPart I. Spiritual Dimensions of Japanese AestheticsChapter 1. Ante-Originality and the Alternative Creativity of Japanese Pathway Arts, John C. Maraldo, University of North Florida, USA, and Mary Jo Maraldo, Independent Scholar, USAChapter 2. “The Secret of Music” and Unity with Nature, David E. Cooper, Durham University, UKChapter 3. Play in Japanese Aesthetics: Between Gravity and Lightness, Raquel Bouso, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, SpainChapter 4. The Opening of the True Plum Blossom: Reflections on Dogen and Zen Aesthetics, Jason M. Wirth, Seattle University, USAPart II. Moral Dimensions of Japanese AestheticsChapter 5. Flourishing with Japanese Do and TEA (Transformative Expression and Appreciation), Jesús Ilundáin-Agurruza, Linfield University, USAChapter 6. Ethically Grounded Aesthetic Sensibility in Japan: From Traditional Arts to Contemporary Design, Yuriko Saito, Rhode Island School of Design, USAChapter 7. Mono no aware and the Kokoro Effect in Motokiyo Zeami’s No, Johnathan Flowers, California State University, Northridge, USAPart III. Metaphysical Dimensions of Japanese AestheticsChapter 8. Realism in Japanese Aesthetics: Reality as Realization in Ki-Based Art Practices, Leah Kalmanson, University of North Texas, USAChapter 9. Kuki Shuzo: Art and Existence as the Play of Contingency-Necessity, Mayuko Uehara, Kyoto University, JapanChapter 10. The Ontology and Aesthetic of Iki: An Unbearable Lightness, Carol S. Gould, Florida Atlantic University, USAChapter 11. A Critical Analysis of the Unconscious in D. T. Suzuki’s Zen Aestheticism, Steve Odin, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, USAPart IV. Japanese Artworks and Artforms: Philosophical ExplorationsChapter 12. Complexity and Japanese Aesthetics: A Close Reading of Yasujiro Ozu’s The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice, Yi Chen, Independent Scholar, Canada, and Boris Steipe, University of Toronto, CanadaChapter 13. Writing in the Sand: Patterns of Dis/Continuity between Sandscapes and Society in Japanese Cinema, Rudi Capra, University of Wuhan, ChinaChapter 14. From Gardeners to Gardens: Karesansui and Cosmic Emulation, Julianne N. Chung, York University, Canada Chapter 15. Art as the Productive Seeing of Historical Nature: Nishida and the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, Lucy Christine Schultz, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, USAPart V. Intercultural Encounters and Metaphorical ConcernsChapter 16. Excess and Restraint: Repetitive Non-Mimetic Japanese and Greek Aesthetic Rituals, Adam Loughnane, University College Cork, IrelandChapter 17. Scenes of Scent: Lingering Aromas in Kuki and Baudelaire, Lorenzo Marinucci, Tohoku University, JapanChapter 18. Beauty as Betweenness: The Classic and an Aesthetics of Participation in Watsuji, Dewey, and Gadamer, Peter L. Doebler, Dayton Art Institute, USAChapter 19. Early Feminist Aesthetics in Japan: Murasaki Shikibu, Sei Shonagon, and a Thousand Years of the Female Voice in Japan, Mara Miller, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, USAChapter 20. The Field of Japanese Aesthetics, Thomas P. Kasulis, Ohio State University, USAIndexAbout the Contributors
