great minds of the eastern intellectual tradition

7/22/2019 Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition

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Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition

Taught By Professor Grant Hardy, Ph.D., Yale University,University of orth !arolina at "sheville

#estern $hiloso$hy is a vast intellectual tradition, the $roduct of thousandsof years of revolutionary thought %uilt u$ %y a rich collection of %rilliant&inds. #hen &ost of us study $hiloso$hy, 'e(re focusing only on the#estern intellectual tradition %rought a%out %y $eo$le such as "ristotle,Descartes, and iet)sche. But to understand the #estern intellectualtradition is to only get half of the story.

*ust as i&$ortant, and +ust as valid a contri%ution to $hiloso$hy, is theEastern intellectual tradition. Eastern $hiloso$hy is also the $roduct ofthousands of years of thought and 'as also %uilt u$ %y a distinct grou$ of%rilliant thiners. "&ong these are

the Buddha,!onfucius,Gandhi, and-arathustra.

Their ideas de&onstrate fascinating, 'holly different 'ays of a$$roaching,understanding, and solving the sa&e funda&ental uestions that concernedthe #est(s greatest thiners, such as

the e/istence of God,

the &eaning of life,the nature of truth and reality,the organi)ation of govern&ent and society,the significance of suffering, andthe roots of a 'ell0lived life.

To e/$lore Eastern $ers$ectives on these issues is to e&%ar on anillu&inating +ourney into the heart of grand, %ut often unfa&iliar,civili)ations. It(s also a thought0$rovoing 'ay to understand the sur$risingconnections and differences %et'een East and #est, and to strengthen yourno'ledge of cultures that $lay increasingly i&$ortant roles in our glo%ali)ed

12st0century 'orld.

Great Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition is an e$ic, co&$rehensivesurvey of the East(s &ost influential $hiloso$hers and thiners. In 34lectures, a'ard0'inning Professor Grant Hardy of the University of orth!arolina at "sheville introduces you to the &en and 'o&en res$onsi%le for&olding "sian $hiloso$hy and for giving %irth to a 'ide variety of s$iritualand ideological syste&s, including Hinduis&, Daois&, !onfucianis&, 5ufis&,



and Buddhis&. By focusing on these ey thiners in their historical conte/ts,you(ll 'itness the develo$&ent of these rich traditions as they sha$ed anddefined Eastern cultures through the rise and fall of e&$ires, the friendly andhostile encounters 'ith each other and 'ith the #estern 'orld, and the ra$idadvance&ents of the &odern age.

Eastern Philoso$hy Made !lear

#hen co&$ared 'ith the #est, Eastern $hiloso$hical thought is &uch &oreine/trica%ly lined 'ith s$iritual conce$ts and %eliefs. To hel$ you &aesense of the unfa&iliar nature of Eastern $hiloso$hy and its strong ties 'iths$irituality, Professor Hardy has organi)ed this course into four %asic $arts.

Part 6ne traces the origins of Eastern $hiloso$hy in the cos&ological andtheological vie's that arose in India and !hina %eginning around 2177 B.!.,including Buddhis&, *ainis&, !onfucianis&, and Daois&.

Part T'o e/$lores the fa&ous develo$ers of legalis&, Mahayana and !hineseBuddhis&, yoga, and other intellectual schools that e&erged during the ageof early Eastern e&$ires and %uilt on the foundations of the $ast.Part Three focuses on the great thiners 'ho flourished starting in the early21th century, &any of 'hose schools of thought8including 5ihis&, 9edantaHinduis&, and eo0!onfucianis&8revolutioni)ed cultural notions of society,aesthetics, and faith.Part :our delves into the &odern era, 'hen the convergence of East and#est s$urred the develo$&ent of $hiloso$hical %eliefs that %eca&e even&ore $olitici)ed and %lended 'ith inde$endence &ove&ents and thatreacted to ideologies such as !o&&unis& and ca$italis&.

In &ost lectures, Professor Hardy focuses on t'o ey individuals, often tainga co&$arative a$$roach to their lives, their vie's, and their legacies onvarious schools of thought. The result is a learning e/$erience that &aes asee&ingly inti&idating stretch of ti&e and a diverse cast of charactersa$$roacha%le and understanda%le.

Throughout your chronological +ourney, you(ll s$end a &a+ority of ti&ea&ong the three &a+or countries that for& the core of the Easternintellectual tradition, e/$loring their uniue $hiloso$hical the&es ands$iritual $aths.

India; The conce$ts of reincarnation, cos&ic +ustice, and li%eration< a focuson logical analysis and direct insight =often achieved through yoga or&editation>< the union of religion and $olitics< and &ore.!hina; " constant a$$eal to the $ast in guiding the $resent< $ractical vie'sthat highlight har&ony, %alance, and social order< a een a$$reciation of thecycles of nature< a for& of $olitics that %alances legal constraints 'ith$ersonal ethics< and &ore.



*a$an; The ada$tation and transfor&ation of !onfucianis&< a distinct$hiloso$hy of aesthetics< a focus on grou$ identity and consensus< ano$enness to ada$tation fro& the #estern 'orld< and &ore.

You(ll also travel to $laces lie ?orea, Ti%et, and Iran, e/$loring their o'n

contri%utions to the East(s grand $hiloso$hical dialogue.

Meet :a&iliar8and Unfa&iliar8Geniuses

5o 'ho e/actly are the greatest &inds in Eastern $hiloso$hical thought@

#hile there are $ro%a%ly too &any to count, Professor Hardy focuses onseveral do)en &a+or figures 'ho have had the greatest i&$act on "sianintellectual history, and 'hose influence has often e/tended %eyond cultural%orders.

AI a& confident that the great &inds 'ho have %een included in this course'ill give you a %asic understanding of "sian intellectual history and a goodfoundation for further studies,A he says.

"&ong the &any sages, &ystics, $oets, revolutionaries, critics, novelists,$oliticians, and scientists you encounter in Great Minds of the EasternIntellectual Tradition are so&e you &ay have heard of %efore %ut have nevergotten an in0de$th introduction to.

-arathustra; This ancient Persian $riest 'as the father of -oroastrianis&, a%elief syste& that s$read throughout the near East and $arts of the #est.

-arathustra(s greatest insight 'as that the universe is characteri)ed %ydualis&, 'ith good and evil loced in a cos&ic conflict in 'hich individuals&ust choose one side or the other. The Buddha; Born 5iddhartha Gauta&a around 43 B.!., the Buddhaachieved a $rofound state of enlighten&ent after &editating under a %odhitree. "lthough he retained classical ideas fro& Hinduis&, he shar$ly differedfro& it 'hen he taught that nothing has a soul and that any gras$ing at$er&anence ends in suffering and failure.!onfucius; " conte&$orary of the Buddha, !onfucius is the &ost significant$hiloso$her in !hinese history. He develo$ed a $rogra& for lifelong &oralgro'th that 'ould influence the culture for &ore than a thousand years.

!onfucius sa' the ans'er to the increased violence and la'lessness of hissociety as rooted in the social standards of sages, not revelation.Gandhi; Best no'n for the conce$t of satyagraha =nonviolent resistance>,this Indian inde$endence fighter changed his $hiloso$hical ideas over ti&e inres$onse to $articular situations. His overarching goal, ho'ever, 'as a &orehu&ane 'ay of life %ased on self0govern&ent, self0sufficiency, and a dee$connection to one(s co&&unity.



Many of the great &inds in this course 'ill undou%tedly %e ne' to you, %utdes$ite their unfa&iliarity, you(ll learn that their lives and vie's held +ust as$rofound an influence on the course of Eastern $hiloso$hy and history. :ourof the &any figures you(ll co&e face to face 'ith are

"shoa, the Indian ruler and Buddhist convert 'hose role in the s$read ofBuddhis& is si&ilar to that of E&$eror !onstantine(s in !hristianity<Prince 5hotou, one of the &ost ad&ired individuals in *a$an and author of a2C0article constitution that, unlie the U.5. !onstitution, 'as a list of &oralin+unctions on leadershi$<Patan+ali, the Indian $hiloso$her 'ho develo$ed yoga as a &eans not forstress reduction or fle/i%ility %ut for $eo$le to esca$e life(s suffering andachieve s$iritual li%eration< andana, a conte&$orary of Martin uther 'ho %eca&e the first 5ih guru andtaught that salvation co&es 'hen the soul, after cycles of reincarnation, isfinally united 'ith the 6ne God.

" Po'erful Gate'ay into Eastern Thought

Professor Hardy is reno'ned for his e/$ertise on Eastern culture and his$assionate teaching sills. The University of orth !arolina at "shevillehonored hi& 'ith its distinguished Teacher "'ard for the "rts andHu&anities :aculty, and na&ed hi& to a $restigious uth and eon :eld&anProfessorshi$. #hether he(s descri%ing the tiniest evolutionary change in *a$anese $hiloso$hical schools, unearthing the hidden $earls of 'isdo& inancient !hinese oans and $oe&s, or %reaing do'n the co&$le/ities of theHindu $antheon, Professor Hardy is an authoritative guide 'ho 'ill no dou%t

intrigue and enlighten you.

6ften regarded as i&$enetra%le, Eastern $hiloso$hy is sur$risingly &oreaccessi%le =and so&eti&es &ore fa&iliar> than you &ay have i&agined. "ndGreat Minds of the Eastern Intellectual Tradition is a $o'erful gate'ay into auniue collection of custo&s, ideas, %eliefs, and attitudes8and the %rilliantindividuals res$onsi%le for the&.

"%out Your Professor

Dr. Grant Hardy is Professor of History and eligious 5tudies and Director of

the Hu&anities Progra& at the University of orth !arolina at "sheville. Heearned his B.". in "ncient Gree fro& Brigha& Young University and his Ph.D.in !hinese anguage and iterature fro& Yale University.

Professor Hardy has received a 'ealth of a'ards and accolades for %oth histeaching and his scholarshi$. "t the University of orth !arolina, he 'on the1771 Distinguished Teacher "'ard for the "rts and Hu&anities :aculty, andhe 'as na&ed to a uth and eon :eld&an Professorshi$ for 177F to 1727.



He also received a research grant fro& the ational Endo'&ent for theHu&anities, and he $artici$ated in scholarly sy&$osia at $restigiousuniversities around the 'orld, including Harvard University and theUniversity of Heidel%erg.

Professor Hardy has 'ritten, co'ritten, or edited si/ %oos, including #orldsof Bron)e and Ba&%oo; 5i&a ian(s !onuest of History< The Esta%lish&entof the Han E&$ire and I&$erial !hina< and the first volu&e of the 6/fordHistory of Historical #riting. In addition, he has 'ritten or revised a &a+orityof the articles on i&$erial !hina for the #orld Boo Encyclo$edia

great minds of the eastern intellectual tradition

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