The Indian Mind: Essentials of Indian Philosophy and Culture, and: The Chinese Mind: Essentials of Chinese Philosophy and Culture, and: The Japanese Mind: Essentials of Japanese Philosophy and Culture (review)

BOOK REVIEWS 115 The Indian Mind: Essentials of Indian Philosophy and Culture; The Chinese Mind: Essentials of Chinese Philosophy and Culture; The Japanese Mind: Essentials of Japanese Philosophy and Culture. Edited by Charles A. Moore. (Honolulu, Hawaii: East-West Center Press [Univ. of Hawaii], 1967) These three books are one of the tangible results of a drama in which there have been four acts so far with more to come in the future. The setting of the drama has been Hawaii where men of Asian and European ancestry live and work together peacefully. During the summers of 1939, 1949, 1959, and 1964, philosophers from Europe, America and Asia gathered there to study, talk, teach, and live together for six weeks. Each time, backstage, there has been a man of vision, energy and patience directing the operation. Charles A. Moore, who died in April, 1967, was this man. Professor Moore was one of the few men of his generation who knew both Asian and European philosophies. He knew that each philosophical system had both strong and weak points and that each was limited by partial perspective. He was certain that if communication between proponents of the several philosophies could be established , each would gain from the others. To test his hypothesis he worked for years to bring about the right conditions for meaningful encounter and to persuade the best minds of the philosophy world to accept the opportunities being created. The results have been worth Professor Moore's dedication. The formal lectures of the four East-West Philosophy Conferences, the undergraduate courses, graduate seminars, and informal discussions trained a sizable number of people in comparative philosophy. New ideas stimulated research and writing. A scholarly journal of comparative philosophy, Philosophy East and West, was begun and is still functioning. In addition, out of each conference came a book of readable essays. It would be no exaggeration to say that an entirely new intellectual climate was established through these conferences which took the philosophy of Asia "out of the realm of the occult" and encouraged a high level of scholarship. In order to bring the benefits of this successful experiment to a wide circle of thoughtful people in Europe and America, Professor Moore conceived the idea of putting together in book form essays of the four conferences which best represented the thought and culture of India, China and Japan. With these three volumes anyone who knows his own philosophical tradition can become a one-man synthesizing agent. The three books in question have some characteristics in common: (I) They can further understanding among philosophers of the world. Recognizing the general lack of familiarity with Asian philosophies, the writers give clear accounts of the basic ideas by which men have lived in India, China and Japan. They also provide enough cultural history to indicate the process of selection which brought these particular ideas to prominence rather than others which were offered for consideration. Without this kind of knowledge philosophers of the West cannot communicate with Asian thinkers at all. (2) These books are intended to help expand the partial views of twentiethcentury philosophers into a world-wide perspective. The several systems do not begin with the same so-called "self-evident" truths. They do not all concentrate on the same range of problems. They do not all use the same methods of investigation. They do not all come to the same conclusions. In examining the similarities and differences that will be noted, fresh approaches to problems will be discovered. Also, more records of human experience will be added to those already known. As a result, philosophical theories of the future can take into account the reflections and experience of all men. 116 HISTORY OF PHILOSOPHY (3) They emphasize the close relation between thought and action--a point on which aN the major Oriental philosophers agree. Inquiry divorced from every-day life is considered worthless in Asia. Knowledge for the sake of knowledge, speculation for the purpose of satisfying curiosity, is a waste of time. Thus, every theory has had to stand the test of practicality, and pure thought has been turned into applied thought, a procedure often neglected in the West. (4) Each volume...