“Everything is interconnected” is a central theme of Chinese Buddhism. This article examines how four prominent Chinese Buddhist schools—Tiantai 天台, Sanlun 三論, Huayan 華嚴, and Chan 禪—engaged with interconnectedness during the Sui and Tang Dynasties (581–907 CE), the golden age of Chinese Buddhism. While Tiantai, Sanlun, and Huayan developed distinctive theses of interconnectedness by advancing beyond the Indian Buddhist doctrine of emptiness (Sanskrit: śūnyatā), which denies that objects have intrinsic nature (Sanskrit: svabhāva), their insights were echoed and integrated (...) in practice-oriented Chan Buddhism. This article analyzes this historical development through two lenses: first, by tracing the evolution of interconnectedness in Chinese Buddhism, it reveals how Chinese Buddhists developed distinctive views that further the Indian doctrine of emptiness; second, by showing how contemporary concepts of identity and dependence can elucidate historical Chinese Buddhist theses while revealing alternative perspectives to contemporary views, it demonstrates how Chinese Buddhism and contemporary metaphysics can be mutually enriching. (shrink)

Calls for society to reconnect with nature are commonplace in environmental discourse. The expression ‘Interconnectedness with Nature’ has a place in African eco-philosophy. The departure from this...

I argue that the increased rate of innovation in eighteenth-century England cannot be understood without accounting for the unprecedented level of contact between England and other societies as a consequence of sixteenth-century colonialism. I propose cultural interconnectedness and in-group cooperation as two potential alternative explanations for the psychological changes and innovative behavior described by Baumard.

An increasing number of contemporary voices in both bioethics and environmental ethics have grown dissatisfied with the schisms, abysses, and raging torrents that continue to flow between those two...

The theory of opposition has always been viewed as the founding principle of structuralism within contemporary linguistics and semiotics. As an analytical technique, it has remained a staple within these disciplines, where it continues to be used as a means for identifying meaningful cues in the physical form ofsigns. However, as a theory of conceptual structure it was largely abandoned under the weight of post-structuralism starting in the 1960s — the exception tothis counter trend being the work of the Tartu (...) School of semiotics. This essay revisits opposition theory not only as a viable theory for understanding conceptual structure, but also as a powerful technique for establishing the interconnectedness of language, culture, and cognition. (shrink)

The sense of interconnectedness is perhaps one of the most celebrated features of African thought. It has been theorized under different philosophical idioms among African philosophers. It has appeared variously as African metaphysics, ontology, socialism and even religion—all in a bid to underline the basic idea that aspects of reality are inextricably interconnected and mutually impact one another in a seemingly universal web of interaction. While each of the idioms used to express this idea has some merits, the article (...) privileges the epistemic idiom. To support this move, I make two mutually reinforcing arguments. First, it is appropriate to describe the sense of interconnectedness in epistemic terms because it is primarily a mode of knowing/perceiving the world. Second, and more importantly, the epistemic idiom is useful for the formulation of emancipatory demands and formation of epistemic alliances against the subjugation of African and non-Western knowledges by mechanisms of coloniality. (shrink)

What did the early Greek philosophers think about animals and their lives? How did they view plants? And, ultimately, what type of relationship did they envisage between all sorts of living beings? On these topics there is evidence of a prolonged investigation by several Presocratics. However, scholarship has paid little attention to these issues and to the surprisingly "modern" development they received in Presocratics' doctrines. This book fills this lacuna through a detailed (and largely unprecedented) analysis of the extant evidence. (...) The volume includes also the first extensive collection of the ancient sources pertaining to living beings and life in early Greek philosophy, organized chronologically and thematically. (shrink)

This article explores the Oromo ethnic group’s notion of interconnectedness with nature in Ethiopia. The Oromo, a significant part of the Cushitic-speaking community in East Africa, constitute nearly half of Ethiopia’s population. Amidst the current global environmental challenges, diverse cultural perspectives must be acknowledged and respected. One such perspective is the Oromo notion of interconnectedness with nature. Drawing from literature reviews, interviews, and observations, the manuscript delineates key elements that characterize this perspective, including Waaqa (God), Safuu (moral principles), (...) Ayyaana (organizing principle), Namummaa (an Oromo philosophy of relationships), the Gadaa system (socio- politico-economic organization), and Waaqeffannaa (Oromo indigenous religion). These components emphasize ethical principles, harmony, and the promotion of ecological coexistence. Upholding these principles is considered essential for fostering a sustainable relationship with the environment and promoting interconnectedness among all living beings. Incorporating a variety of cultural insights strengthens our collective ability to address pressing environmental issues. (shrink)

sir I was delighted to read a scholarly defence of the notions of interconnectedness and responsibility to others as they apply to genetic privacy.1 Many of the same ethical principles that apply to providing medical care also apply to conducting research. Concepts of genetic privacy are evolving, and these concepts can have a profound effect on the conduct of genetic and genealogical research. In the United States, there seems to be an emphasis on ….

Regular reference is made, within the discourse around the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to the fact that ubuntu, an indigenous world view, played a role in the process. This paper tries to show that despite these references, important analysts of the TRC had insufficiently accounted for this worldview in their critical readings of the Commission's work and therefore found aspects of the process incoherent and/or morally and legally confused. I am not arguing that the TRC was not a (...) deeply flawed process, but want to establish how powerfully this indigenous world view brought a coherency that not only enabled the TRC to do its work without incidences of revenge, but imbued politically and legally trapped concepts with new possibilities. The pervasiveness of this world view within eg. the second round of TRC testimonies is noticeable and show how often the critique on the TRC fails to take this dominant role into account and how many, seemingly contradictory or confusing, positions become coherent when regarded within this worldview. This view of interconnectedness, consistently expressed throughout the life of the commission, has wide implications for the interpretation of healing, the asking of amnesty, the rehabilitation of perpetrators, the interdependence of forgiveness and reconciliation in the process of achieving full personhood within a healed society. In the footsteps of Richard Bell, this paper locates this world view within a particular framework formulated as ubuntu by Desmond Tutu, as communitarianism by Kwame Gyekye, as ethnophilosophy by Paulin Hountondji etc. The paper also tries to understand how this interconnected moral self is formed and who the community could or should be that influences this moral self. South African Journal of Philosophy Vol. 27 2008: pp. 353-366. (shrink)

The United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has considerable potential for achieving a more sustainable future. However, the concrete realisation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is impeded by how they are implemented by a diverse set of competent agents. This conceptual paper draws on social impact theory to investigate how businesses can utilise the SDG framework to achieve positive social outcomes. We identify two pathways that can guide businesses to improve their SDGs interventions, which entail considering the _interconnections_ (...) between the goals that are directly or indirectly affected by the initiative at stake and the _inclusiveness_ of the actors affected by the SDGs. Building on the literature on hybrid organising (to frame interconnectedness) and the literature on multi-stakeholder partnerships and deliberative governance (to frame inclusiveness), we discuss a set of organisational mechanisms and transformations that can help businesses ensure that their SDGs interventions are more socially impactful. By doing so, this paper extends the literature on the role of companies for sustainable development and provides some practical implications. (shrink)

This open themed issue of Etikk i praksis compiles five diverse papers that overlap at key conceptual intersections around trust, care and responsibilities across national boundaries. Our globalized social environments have become more and more complex, and the information needed to understand society and our moral responsibilities have grown ever more challenging. The ‘fake news’ buzzword, used by various societal actors to cast doubt on political rivals, is shaking the trust needed to be confident about institutional sources of information. The (...) caring attitude that serves to cement social groups and communities seems to be weakening in certain contexts, resulting in individual acts of unimaginable violence that shock us to the core. On the other hand, we are inspired when the same caring attitude mobilizes groups and individuals to reach across national boundaries and aid those who are suffering. In sorting through the generalizations and attempts to categorize the many highly complex social phenomena that occur in our interconnected global realities, we apply careful analysis of both facts and values that facilitate ethical reflection, helping us to make ethical decisions. (shrink)

이 논문은 자연 공간에서의 생성, 존재론적 상호 순환의 필요성을 제기함으로써, 만물은 안팎에서 ‘막힘이 없는 공간성’을 요구한다는 문제의식을 갖는다. 자연적인 것들은 내재적으로 자기 생명, 자기 생태, 자기 존재의 공간을 구비한다. 그것들은 인간에 의해 상대로 여겨지기 십상이지만 실제로는 친화적이지 않으면 안 된다. 그것들은 인간인 ‘나’의 생명과 밀접한 관련을 맺기 때문이다. 이런 접근은 다소 형이상학적이거니와, 자연은 인간 저편의 상대가 아니라는 인식에 기초한다. 우주라는 공간에 수용된 자연의 개별자들은 크게는 천과 지, 천과 인, 작게는 사람 간, 사물 간 할 것 없이 안과 밖으로 ‘연결성’, '소통성', (...) ‘관계성’을 존재조건으로 한다. 서로 막힘이 없어야 생명으로 존재할 수 있다. 이런 존재론적 함의를 우리는 동아시아 인(仁) 사유를 통해 발견할 수 있다. 거기에는 사물들이 존재를 위해 안팎으로 서로 이어져 있을 뿐만 아니라 역시 안팎으로 운동, 변화하면서 서로 연결되어 있음을 제기한다. 이 같은 기능이 장애를 입을 때 자연물은 존재할 수 없다. 이런 문제의식에서 동아시아 사유에 나타난 공간에서의 생성 또는 생명 현상에서 소통의 의의를 존재론적으로 이 논문은 접근한다. (shrink)

This article proposes a reading of the concept of interconnectedness in Pope Francis’s encyclical _Laudato Si’_ through three relational categories: dependence, care, and communion. Through philosophical and theological analysis of two foundational narratives—the Genesis account and the Roman myth of Cura—the study argues that these three dimensions form a progressive and integrated structure for understanding human responsibility within the created order. The investigation contends that dependence constitutes the ontological foundation of our material existence as creatures; care expresses the human (...) response to this shared vulnerability through attentive stewardship that complements work; and communion names the ultimate relationship with God that fulfills our relational nature. Each dimension presupposes the previous one: we care because we depend; we commune because we have learned to care. In critical dialogue with thinkers such as Heidegger, Arendt, and MacIntyre, the article recovers the dignity of the body and rejects the separation between work and care characteristic of the technocratic paradigm. The reading of Genesis 2:15 (_abad_ and _shamar_) reveals that the original human vocation integrates cultivation and stewardship, work and care, challenging interpretations that view labor as post-Fall punishment. The work concludes that the Incarnation validates bodily materiality and makes full communion with God possible through matter itself. Facing the contemporary environmental crisis, caused by an instrumental rationality that reduces everything to means-ends relationships, the article proposes sapiential education—especially through the humanities in non-profit universities—as a privileged space for forming persons capable of recognizing the interconnectedness of all things and responding with the care our common home requires. (shrink)

We are witnessing the collapse of the post-war consensus, the implosion of the caring society. In times of social, economic, and political insecurity, egotism spreads, and most popular videogames are designed following a logic of consumerist self-gratification and self-empowerment. Deeply political, they contribute to the transformation of players into lacking members of our societies. Consequently, we need to affect change in what game designers do by changing both why and how they do it. Using the reach of the mainstream market, (...) we can promote awareness of the socio-political and cultural contexts we live in and critical, active, and responsible participation. Videogames remind us that we can never be isolated in a universe defined by complexity and interlaced, dynamic systems. We can develop our societies towards a game logic of playful freedom and rules-based constraints in an effective and affective way, if we make the essential connection between the leading medium of the 21st century and a suggested new Neo-Kantian virtual ethics built upon notions of autonomous agency, mutual respect, and obligation. Such videogames address the human being in its entirety, like no other medium in history before, as a thinking, acting, and feeling responsible agent through engagement, immersion, and involvement. (shrink)

In Seneca’s works, the interconnectedness between wisdom, morality, and happiness is the basic path for developing the peace of mind. Exercising wisdom is intrinsically linked to the expression of wisdom. Wisdom is the only way to find lasting happiness. There are three important limitations in Seneca’s philosophy. Firstly, an “action-driven consistency” does not necessarily require an “axiological consistency” (between virtues). Secondly, profit maximization could give birth to organizational fears: the fear to overestimate the realm of the superfluous (and thus (...) to reduce profit maximization efforts) and the fear to lose organizational power, social status, and rank. Business decision-makers may experience both fears. Thirdly, any confusion between pity with compassion could misguide decision-makers about the most generous and prudent ways to help people. Two basic antecedents of a value crisis must be carefully analyzed: a legalistic positioning in matters of ethical issues, and the strategy of “setting an example”, regardless of the consequences for vulnerable individuals. When corporate reputation is prioritized, then any other ethical concern could be completely disregarded. Prudence, compassion, open-mindedness, and discernment allow decision-makers to identify optimal solutions to a value crisis. (shrink)

In this paper, we investigate how ethical questions of fairness and representation are embedded in processes of commons creation. Drawing on a qualitative case study of a global trend in night management, we show how proponents (including ‘night mayors’ and ‘night councils’) in various cities attempt to reconceptualize urban nights as commons and engage in negotiations around diverse and often conflicting uses. Our findings highlight that night mayors sought to initiate ethical processes addressing fairness, representation, participation, and compromise. These processes (...) involved reimagining urban nights as shared resources, fostering communities around them, developing emerging commoning practices, and shifting perceptions of time (from objective, general, and universal to subjective, specific, and localized). The study illustrates the foundational role of ethical considerations and shifts in temporal perception and highlights the concept of bodily interconnectedness in advancing our understanding of embodied ethics. Overall, the paper contributes to our knowledge of commons creation in urban environments and beyond. It also points to further research on how ethics and processes of commons creation are intertwined. (shrink)

Correspondences and similarities between ideas in shamanism and ideas in contemporary cognitive science are considered. The importance of interconnectedness in the web of life worldview characteristic of shamanism and in connectionist models of semantic memory in cognitive science, and the extension of meaning to elements of the natural world in shamanism and indistributed cognition, are considered. Cognitive consequences of such an extension (e.g., use of representativeness and intentional stance heuristics, magical thinking, social attribution errors, and social in‐group/out‐group differences) are (...) discussed. It is suggested that attributions of mental states, beliefs, and desires to a computer on the basis of behavioral measures (e.g., the Turing test) is consistent with the extension of meaning and intentionality to nonhuman elements of the natural world in shamanism. In general, the existence of such correspondencesand similarities suggests that elements of shamanism may reflect cognitive structures and processes that are also used by nonshamans and in nonshamanic settings. (shrink)

Chapter 2 explores the development of kalām (Islamic systematic theology) and its foundational role in understanding nubuwwah (prophethood) within Islamic thought. Although sīrah and kalām are distinct genres traditionally treated independently, Islamic modernism has led to their convergence, particularly in debates on prophethood and the authenticity of Prophet Muhammad’s mission. This overlap has prompted many scholars to analyse sīrah through the lens of kalām, recognising the interconnectedness of the two fields. Akin to many modern Muslim thinkers, Gülen’s approach to (...) sīrah is heavily intertwined with kalām, especially in theological discussions on prophethood. Thus, this chapter begins with a brief survey of kalām, focusing on prophethood within Islamic thought, and examines the relationship between kalām and sīrah during the late 19th and early twentieth centuries, known as the new ilm al-kalām era (the renewal of Islamic theology). By highlighting Islamic schools’ general attitudes toward prophethood, the chapter contextualises Gülen’s stance compared to classical and new ilm al-kalām approaches to nubuwwah. Ultimately, this chapter addresses the tension between sīrah as a narrative genre and its interpretation as a theological discourse, questioning whether sīrah narratives should be seen as descriptive or prescriptive, a crucial debate in understanding contemporary approaches to the sīrah genre. (shrink)

Stories and images of successful career women and support for women’s advancement in working life have become hallmarks of contemporary postfeminist media culture, and especially of women’s magazines such as Cosmopolitan. While in previous research these features have been seen as signs for a new, popular feminism, more recently they have also been connected to the growing hegemony of neoliberal governance, a mode of power that ultimately aims at the economization of the social and is fundamentally exercised in and through (...) discourse. The aim of this article is to investigate further the interconnectedness of these two phenomena, postfeminism and neoliberalism, in the domain of work, using the example of the German edition of Cosmopolitan. For a detailed and multilayered investigation the study draws on linguistically oriented discourse analysis, focusing on the operation of a ‘discourse of postfeminist self-management’. The examination shows how this discourse, while on the one hand evoking an ethos of feminist engagement, on the other seeks to guide readers to mould themselves into a version of the entrepreneurial self required by the neoliberalized world of work. (shrink)

This essay explores shared cultural presuppositions underlying the perception of good governance in Chan Buddhism and Neo-Confucianism of the Song dynasty (960–1279) through a comparative hermeneutics between the Northern Song Chan scholar-monk Qisong 契嵩 (1007–1072) and the Southern Song Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi 朱熹 (1130–1200). This is achieved through a parallel reading of Qisong’s Fujiao bian 輔教編 (Essays on Assisting the Teaching) and Zhu Xi’s commentary on the classic Great Learning, Daxue zhangju 大學章句. As a core theme of these works, (...) good governance, understood as both self-governance and the governance of others, is grounded in particular cultural assumptions regarding interconnectedness. The study brings to light the enduring relevance of interconnectedness in today’s world. (shrink)

Business ethics researchers and practitioners are interested in understanding the temporal mechanisms of various managerial activities, processes, and policies. In this direction, I borrow notions of time from Virginia Woolf’s _Mrs. Dalloway_ to examine how social time intersperses with the paid and (unpaid) care work of female employees during the pandemic. I explore how discussions of social time in connection to care work appear in newspaper discourses of “shecession”, i.e. the large-scale job/income losses experienced by women during the COVID-19 pandemic. (...) Since shecession is a byproduct of the pandemic times, exploring the role of time in it is crucial. In fact, my findings show that the macro social time of the pandemic affects working women with care responsibilities who are situated at the intersection of multiple vulnerable social categories by simultaneously being a penalizer and a lost opportunity. Similarly, I also find that the micro social times of working women embed, stratify, and synchronize differently during the pandemic when compared to normal times. Working women with care responsibilities are thus adversely affected by both micro and macro social time changes. My findings, therefore, could be instrumental in developing and implementing inclusive policies and processes in business organizations and labor markets. In so doing, my study also indicates how a consideration of social time enriches the application of care ethics in work contexts. Ultimately, this article is also about developing caring organizations, societies, and families which care for the caregivers (working women), since receiving care is a precondition of giving care. (shrink)

Death is a biological phenomenon, define as the permanent and irreversible cessation of all biological functions of a being. Many people are afraid of discussing, thinking, or planning their own deaths because of we do not know about death and why death occur. If we know what is death we can think for planning our life, preparing a will, or deciding whether we will remain home or seek help before death. Moreover, after death, we transfer to another world passing out (...) along with funeral according to religious. People seek help to religious cleric, as there is vast information regarding death in religion. As the death is the inevitable system and part and percale of life, therefore we must aware of what death is. We need do good deed in term of one day we will die and after death we will be nowhere but our benevolent works remain and may make us eternal or we will be rewarded heaven or hell or transmigrate to a new body according to our conduct. (shrink)

Values serve as the fundamental components of one's personality and act as the motivators behind an individual's actions and attitudes towards various aspects of life. Values are widely accepted by social scientists as fundamental, intangible principles that guide, validate, or clarify attitudes, customs, perspectives, and behaviors. The implementation of a value systemValue system dictates the destiny of every community. The ultimate result, whether it is conflict or harmony, is intricately intertwined with the circumstances, contingent upon whether the community places a (...) higher value on their relentless pursuit of personal gratification and self-centeredness, fueled by their unending avarice, or if society promotes altruistic affection towards fellow individuals and the natural world. (shrink)

이 논문은 주역적 思惟가 중국 근현대 담사동의 通 사상에 변용되는 양상과 특징을 연구한 것이다.먼저 담사동의 저작에 보이는 주역적 구조와 道와 器, 나아가 仁의 含意로서 通과 周易乾卦 爻辭와 春秋 公羊三世의 만남을 검토하게 될 것이다.담사동은 공자가 제창한 仁을 우주의 근원으로 보고, 이 근원은 소통 상태에 있었으며 그 작용력 또한 무한히 열린 상태에 있는 것으로 본다. 그런데 上下男女內外中外 등과 같은 상대적 요소들은 담사동이 보기에 서로 막힘의 상태에 있거나 대립한다.담사동의 인식으로는, 君民間에는 군주가 인민에 대한 불평등한 행위를 恣行하며 남녀와 부부 사이에도 여성이 일방적으로 불평등한 대우를 (...) 받으며 사람과 사람 사이에도 또한 막힘의 상태가 존재하며, 중국과 외국의 관계도 閉塞의 상태에 있다.그러면 이런 不通의 상태를 어떻게 할 것인가? 담사동의 안목으로는 소통해야 하는 것이다. 우주의 본원으로 볼 때 소통된 상태를 인간이 가렸으므로 原狀으로 회복하려는 노력이 요구되는 것이다. 그는 막힘의 상태를 網羅로 규정하기도 하는데, 그것은 주로 학문, 정치, 종교(가르침)의 차원에서 구속적이고 융통성이 없음을 의미한다.이 같은 의미에서 주역적 思惟는 전반적 타파 대상을 건강한 상태로 돌려놓기 위한 논거 마련을 위하여 활용된 것이다.본 논문은, 중국 근현대를 산, 한 철학자의 경세철학에 나타나는 通 사상이 주역적 思惟가 시대상황과 맞물려 어떻게 변용되는지 그 면모를 살펴보고, 아울러 우리의 시대에 존재하는 경색 또는 폐색의 모습은 어떻게 할 것인가에 관한 이념적 시사를 얻기 위한 것이다. (shrink)

한국 사회에서 비지배 자유는 많은 관심을 받고 있으며 그 적용 가능성이 늘 논의되지만, 이에 대해 비판적으로 접근한 연구는 거의 없다. 본 논문은 ‘율리시스의 돛대: 한국 사회에서의 비지배 자유’에 대한 후속 논문으로서 비지배 자유가 서양의 사고방식에 근거하기 때문에, 이를 동양 문화권에 있는 한국 사회에서 그대로 차용하기에는 적지 않은 문제점이 있다는 것을 지적하였다. 아울러 한국 사회가 지향해 왔고 또한 지향해야 할 자유를 ‘관계 지향적 자유’로 명명하고 그 가능성과 특성을 탐색하였다. 결론적으로 볼 때 관계 지향적 자유는 어울림과 조화를 강조하는 한국 문화의 정신과 부합하여 (...) 공동선의 가치를 지녔다고 할 수 있다. (shrink)

Norbert Elias's The Civilizing Process, which was published in German in 1939 and first translated into English in two volumes in 1978 and 1982, is now widely regarded as one of the great works of twentieth-century sociology. This work attempted to explain how Europeans came to think of themselves as more “civilized” than their forebears and neighboring societies. By analyzing books about manners that had been published between the thirteenth and eighteenth centuries, Elias observed changing conceptions of shame and embarrassment (...) with respect to, among other things, bodily propriety and violence. To explain those developments, Elias examined the interplay among the rise of state monopolies of power, increasing levels of economic interconnectedness among people, and pressures to become attuned to others over greater distances that led to advances in identifying with others in the same society irrespective of social origins. Elias's analysis of the civilizing process was not confined, however, to explaining changing social bonds within separate societies. The investigation also focused on the division of Europe into sovereign states that were embroiled in struggles for power and security.This article provides an overview and analysis of Elias's principal claims in the light of growing interest in this seminal work in sociology. The analysis shows how Elias defended higher levels of synthesis in the social sciences to explain relations between “domestic” and “international” developments, and changes in social structure and in the emotional lives of modern people. Elias's investigation, which explained long-term processes of development over several centuries, pointed to the limitations of inquiries that concentrate on short-term intervals. Only by placing short-term trends in long-term perspective could sociologists understand contemporary developments. This article maintains that Elias's analysis of the civilizing process remains an exemplary study of long-term developments in Western societies over the last five centuries. (shrink)

This article argues for a non-reductive approach to translation as a basic social process that shapes both the world that sociologists study and the sociological endeavour itself. It starts by referring to accounts from the sociology of translation and translation studies, which have problematized simplistic views of processes of cultural globalization. From this point of view, translation can offer an approach to contemporary interconnectedness that escapes from both methodological nationalism and what can be designated as the monolingual vision, providing (...) substantive perspectives on the proliferation of contact zones or borderlands in a diversity of domains. The article centrally argues for a sociological perspective that examines not just the circulation of meaning but translation as a process of linguistic transformation that is necessarily embodied in words. Only if this more material aspect of translation is attended to can the nature of translation as an ordinary social process be fully grasped and its intervention in meaning-making activities explored. This has far-ranging implications for any reflexive account of the production of sociological works and interpretations. (shrink)

According to Zhiyi 智顗 (538–597), the founder of the Chinese Buddhist Tiantai school 天台宗, “one object is all objects;” hence, all objects are profoundly interconnected. In this paper, I critically examine Zhiyi’s metaphysics of objects as presented in the historical Tiantai texts and subsequently develop a contemporary and accessible thesis of interconnectedness by integrating Zhiyi’s views with resources from contemporary analytic philosophy, particularly relative identity. By drawing on Zhiyi’s insights and incorporating contemporary philosophical ideas, I also illustrate how historical (...) Chinese Buddhism and contemporary analytic metaphysics can be mutually informing. (shrink)

The prospective study follows college students after the 9/11 attacks. Based on evidence and trauma-related theories, and guided by reports on positive and negative reactions and meaning-related actions among Americans after 9/11, we explored the seemingly contradictory, yet meaning-related pathways to posttraumatic growth (PTG) and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms (PTGD), indicating the sense of deep interconnectedness and deep conflict. The final model showed that 9/11 emotional turmoil triggered processes of assimilation, as indicated in pathways between prayer coping and perceived (...) spiritual and social support, and of accommodation, as indicated in the pathway of spiritual struggle. Both pathways were directly associated with PTG in the follow-up. Perceived spiritual and social support contributed to lower levels of PTSD symptoms, whereas spiritual struggle had an opposite impact on symptoms; both effects were mediated through optimism but in opposite directions. The study suggests the interplay of complex crisis-related phenomena following meaning-laden collective trauma that presented existential challenges, involving coping, optimism, deep conflict, and deep interconnectedness. (shrink)

_This scholarly article delves into the interdisciplinary field of biosemiotics, examining its role in shaping the philosophy of nature. Biosemiotics, the study of signs and communication in living organisms, offers a unique lens through which we can understand the intricate relationships and meaningful exchanges within the natural world. This article aims to elucidate the significance of communication in the living world, drawing connections between biosemiotics and the broader philosophy of nature. By exploring the semiotic aspects of life, we gain insights (...) into the profound interconnectedness and communicative dynamics that underpin the fabric of the natural world._. (shrink)

The Avatar: The Last Airbender ( ATLA ) series as a whole portrays Aang's journey from being a scared boy, who ran from his training, to becoming Avatar Aang, who is able to face Fire Lord Ozai. ATLA similarly emphasizes such connections in its portrait of Aang's quest, for his journey toward maturity draws on the work and play he shares with many others before the series comes to its conclusion. Ogyen Trinley Dorje expresses a similar awareness of the weight (...) of an exalted title in his experience as the Karmapa. Aang grows in the community, illustrating the Karmapa's words about the importance of relying on others. Dorje highlights the Buddhist teaching that competition creates the illusion that life is a zero‐sum game and that it undermines our happiness. As the Karmapa emphasizes, interconnectedness does not negate individuality. (shrink)

In this chapter, the author provides an alternative, Ojibwe‐centered lens through which to view the Avatar: The Last Airbender ( ATLA ) show, as well as explores the importance of non‐Western narratives for youth who come from non‐Western traditions by comparing the unique worldview and history presented in ATLA with an Anishinaabe worldview. Mary Makoons Geniusz defines Anishinaabe as “the self‐designation of several American Indian Peoples, including Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi”. A recurring theme in ATLA is the sense of balance, (...) spirituality, and interconnectedness in the world. Basil Johnston, an Ojibwe author, writes that, in an Ojibwe worldview, natural places like valleys, mountains, and woods each have a particular mood that reflects that location's “soul‐spirit”, the community of souls that reside there. (shrink)