The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Eastern and Western Thought (Suny series in Religious Studies)

Coward, Harold

State University of New York Press（2008/02発売）

• 製本 Hardcover:ハードカバー版／ページ数 229 p.
• 言語 ENG
• 商品コード 9780791473351
• DDC分類 128

Full Description

Explores the issue of the perfectibility of nature in philosophy, psychology, and a variety of world religions.

How perfectible is human nature as understood in Eastern and Western philosophy, psychology, and religion? Harold Coward examines some of the very different answers to this question. He poses that in Western thought, including philosophy, psychology, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, human nature is often understood as finite, flawed, and not perfectible-in religion requiring God's grace and the afterlife to reach the goal. By contrast, Eastern thought arising in India frequently sees human nature to be perfectible and presumes that we will be reborn until we realize the goal-the various yoga psychologies, philosophies, and religions of Hinduism and Buddhism being the paths by which one may perfect oneself and realize release from rebirth. Coward uses the striking differences in the assessment of how perfectible human nature is as the comparative focus for this book.

Contents

Acknowledgments

1. Introduction

Part I. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Western Thought

2. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Western Philosophy and Psychology

3. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Jewish Thought

4. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Christian Thought

5. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Islamic Thought

Part II. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Eastern Thought (arising in India)

6. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Indian Philosophy and Yoga Psychology

7. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Hindu Thought

8. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Buddhist Thought

9. Conclusion

Notes
Index