Article dedicated to the work of the philosopher Masao Abe of Japan published by the blog discuss [discutiamodelgiappone.blogspot.com].
Masao Abe, the philosopher of diversity
The logic of the dialectic of change as sokuhi
of Christian Martorella
May 20, 2008. In an age which sees the Western thinkers entrench the position in accordance with the sentencing of cultural relativism, which is considered as the cause of all the ills of contemporary society, the Japanese philosophy is presented as a daunting challenge. Among the authors who support this challenge, we must remember also Masao Abe (1915-2006).
Masao Abe was a professor emeritus at the University of Nara, and is widely considered one of the last members of the so-called Kyoto School, the most representative and original school of thought of the Japanese academic world. He was a good commentator and adviser of the work of Nishida Kitaro. It also recovers the Buddhist classics, such as studies of Dogen, suggest a discount of Buddhism in contemporary philosophy. The most significant and important text that he wrote was Zen and Western Thought (1), a staple of comparative philosophy. The work of Masao Abe is trying to show the limits of logic and language through logic and the same language. A paradox that is used to elucidate the illusory nature of knowledge. All is illusion, including the illusion of knowing the illusory nature of reality. The core of this thinking is the logic of sokuhi, a special Japanese logic based on the principle of "it is not yet." According to Suzuki Daisetsu, it can be stated by saying that "it is not is" in clear opposition to the Aristotelian logic which says that "A is equal to itself" (principle of identity). The formalization (2) of everything in symbolic logic is very simple:
a = a (principle of identity)
~ (a ^ ~ a) (principle of non-contradiction)
a = a → ~ a = a (principle of sokuhi)
The Western logic is not accepted verbatim the Aristotelian principle, rather than approaching them often challenged to considerations of the masters of the East (supporters of a more concrete and less abstract logic). On the other hand to maintain unity of Western thought, have hidden the many objections of the most original thinkers (3). David Hume in the Treatise of Human Nature (4), criticizes the principle of identity by saying that we can not say that an object is identical to itself if we do not limit the period of time. In addition Hume criticizes the possibility of understanding identity as a relationship. In fact it should be a very special type of relationship, ie a relationship with himself. In this way the report can not be distinguished from mere attribute to exist. Ludwig Wittgenstein (5) was equally uncompromising. He stated that "two things that say they are identical is nonsense, and say it is the same one that in itself says nothing" (Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, par. 5.5303).
The Japanese philosophy is not concerned with the refutation of the principle of identity. It says something more, something that is different. The principle of sokuhi states that the identity exists only in negation. The sokuhi word is composed of two kanji, meaning the first equivalence, the second denial. According to Masao Abe, things are equal because they are different, and this is because there are in change. Everything that exists as such because it has become. So it is not yet. " Western philosophy has ignored an aspect of life, believing that the identity is not the difference. The system of thought in the Judeo-Christian tradition is hostile to diversity. The polarity of good and evil can not be reconciled, that there is reconciliation between God and Satan. Buddhism has no concept of opposition and dualism so absolute and exclusive. On the contrary, it supports relativism. All creatures are partakers of the Buddha-nature, and no one is excluded. Masao Abe
research in Buddhism expressions that indicate the possibility of exploiting the non-duality (ropes), and thus surpassing the distinction between identity and difference. In religious terms, this means understanding the true nature of Buddha, to understand that there is no distinction between the subject and Buddha. Who can see that Buddha is in everything is Buddha, and Buddha is because he is in everything. This act is an experience that reveals the true nature of reality, meaning that it is something unique. There is a separate object from the world, but each object is shared in the world, it is the same world. For this reason, the identity itself is nonsense. Objects exist only by virtue of the relationship with other objects. There is only because it could not exist, so it's something else, is different.
Why the common man is unable to recognize reality as we have just described? It depends on the social conditions that harness the human mind and make you slaves of a vision insulation, limiting and inauthentic. The ego prevents us from seeing things as they are free. The attachment to the ego tends to reinforce the idea of \u200b\u200ban identity always equal to itself. Yet the ego is an artificial construct driven by social roles interpretation. The personality, the ego, is an aggregate of body, feelings, thoughts, will and consciousness which in isolation are empty of content. The awareness of the illusory nature of self is what sets us free from its constraints, both internal and external. Everything that has form is an illusion. And when you see that every form is empty, you recognize that everything is the Buddha. All things are Buddha. The identity and diversity, and diversity and identity. In conclusion, only through this kind of relativism (6) can dissolve the illusion of the senses and mind. Rejecting the diversity inevitably leads to crisis that leads to conflict.
Note
1. Cfr. Abe, Masao, Zen and Western Thought, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1985.
2. Per la formalizzazione si sono seguite le regole dei manuali adottati nei corsi di logica. Cfr. Marsonet, Michele, Logica e linguaggio, Pantograf, Genova, 1993; Agazzi, Evandro, La logica simbolica, La Scuola, Brescia, 1990. Per ulteriori approfondimenti: Quine, Willard Van Orman, Manuale di logica, Feltrinelli, Milano, 1968; Strawson, Peter Federick, Introduzione alla teoria logica. Einaudi, Torino, 1975; Carnap, Rudolf, Sintassi logica del linguaggio, Silva, Milano, 1961.
3. L'unità del pensiero occidentale corrisponde più spesso a un'esigenza politica. Sulle manipolazioni read political science Paul Feyerabend. See Feyerabend, Paul, Ambiguity and harmony, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 1996; Feyerabend, Paul, Talk about the method, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 1993.
4. See Hume, David, A Treatise of Human Nature, Laterza, Roma-Bari, 1978.
5. See Wittgenstein, Ludwig, Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, Einaudi, Torino, 1964. For the convergence of the thought of Wittgenstein with Zen please read the following texts: Martorella, Christian, affinity between Zen Buddhism and the philosophy of Wittgenstein, in "Quaderni Asians", n. 61, March 2003, Nakamura, Hajime, Wittgenstein ni okeru Chinmoku, in Wittgenstein, "Gendaishiso," special issue Voll. 13-14, Seidosha, Tokyo, 1985.
6. Leonardo Vittorio Arena stressed the importance of the work of Masao Abe, also supporting the relevance of the Japanese philosophy that emphasizes the cultural relativism. Japan has demonstrated its civilization that can be something else. The chapter on Masao Abe is in Arena, Leonardo Vittorio, The spirit of Japan. The philosophy of the Rising Sun from its origins to the present day, Rizzoli, Milan, 2008, pp. 340-346.
Bibliography
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