Wednesday December 17, 2008 5:00 am Lethbridge

I want to keep the notes that I have made so far for chapter 1. I will continue to add to them this morning. This way, I will have all the notes for the chapter in one place.

Chap. 1 Globalization and Its Discontents

• "Looking at the global village from a philosopher's orbit, you can see prominent civilizational features: politics, religions, cultures, sciences, technologies, arts." [p. 4]
  
  
• "I draw your attention to four mighty human civilizations ... Western, Islamic, Indian, and East Asian ... They are currently the mightiest civilizations on the planet, and events that unfold within, between, and among them have the greatest impact on the entire global village." [p. 4]
  
  
• "My purpose is not to praise, condemn, or judge. Rather it is to characterize, to articulate the foundational principles that inform their [the four 'great' civilizations] "operating systems", to understand how these principles converge and conflict within and between the civilizations themselves, and to apply The Middle Way to reconciling some of the extremes that lead to the most destructive conflicts." [p. 6]

This is disingenious to say the least. I do not see how one can say that he will not praise, condemn, or judge and in the next sentence advocate one particular perspective, the Buddhist middle way. I also see a huge difference between a discussion of how civilizations operate and how individuals should lead their lives.

Here are the major subheadings for the remainder of the chapter:

• Western Civilization
• Islamic Civilization
• Indian Civilization
• East Asian Civilization
• Convergence at Ground Zero: From Locality to Globality
• Happily Ever After, or a Good Life Now?

The first four subheadings provide a quick summary of each civilization's roots. Good. But the last two are quite different. One is a comparison of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11. The last section is a brief attempt to suggest that the future is dependent on everyone adopting a middle way perspective.

Western Civilization

• "Western civilization itself is characterized by a cultural 'double helix'. One strand is Hellenic philosophy; the other Judeo-Christian religion." [p. 7]
  
  
• "Above all, the double helix of Western civilization has encouraged and celebrated individual achievement ..." [p. 9]
  
  
• This has led to the West developing a high proportion of the technological inventions that have revolutionized our way global way of life. [p. 10]
  
  
• The West has also had, among its own countries, a high proportion of the bloodiest wars and conflicts. [p. 11]

Islamic Civilization

• "During its rapid rise from desert tribal origins to a great world religion, Islam encountered, and is still encountering, trials and tribulations similar to those of Christianity, born six hundred years earlier. Like Christianity, Islam has won converts by political coercion, military conquest, and adopted faith. Like Christianity, islam has seen periods of schism and civil war, expansion and contraction, renaissance and repression, tolerance and intolerance." [p. 13]
  
  
• "But, like Western societies, Islamic civilization is riven by complex internal religious and tribal factions ..." [p. 17]
  
  
• "Conflict between Arabian Islamic sects, and between Islam and the West, are also fueled by oil." [p. 17]
  
  
• "The six-hundred-year gap between Christianity and Islam is also a source of much tension. Just like unreformed Christianity of yore, unreformed Islam is a fundamentalist religion, reluctant to evolve and resistant to change." [p. 17]
  
  
• "Yet globalization forces change upon all, and so most Islamic leaders realize that they too must adapt. ... They must bridge a centuries-wide chasm in political, philosophical, scientific, and technological development - and make conspicuous progress in mere decades. India and China are doing this now ... But India and China are not governed by the Abrahamic faiths, whose adherents are renowned for being proud and stiff-necked, vengeful and unforgiving. These qualities may have served a worthwhile purpose during the infancy of human history, but they too must be outgrown ..." [p. 17 - 18]
  
  
• "... Western and Middle Eastern nations are both cooperating yet still clashing, and into this centuries-old fray is drawn the whole of Islamic and Western civilizations." [p. 19]
  
  
• "This is the great challenge facing Islamic civilization: to modernize without losing its identity." [p. 20]

Continuing to make notes ...

Indian Civilization

• "India weaves together an eclectic and almost psychedelic tapestry of religions, cultures, ethnicities, and spiritual practices." [p. 20]
  
  
• "In contrast to the Abrahamic faiths, which are paradigms of monotheism (one God, one prophet, one book), the polytheism and pluralism of indiginous Indian philosophies is mind-boggling." [p. 21]
  
  
• "Yet their common spirit is shaped and pervaded by a trio of immortal works - the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali." [p. 21]

  Sad to say, I have read none of these. I must rectify this. A quick check of amazon.ca indicates that all three are readily available.

• "Orthodox Indian schools recognize three main gods, the Trimurti: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva." [p. 22]
  
  
• "In addition, Indians believe that the universe passes through vast cycles of development, decay, destruction, and rebirth." [p. 22]
  
  
• "But to digest and experience the Bhagavad Gita (among many great Indian books), as a work of practical wisdom for one's life is also to fall in love with Indian philosophy for life." [p. 23]

  I have a nagging feeling that I have a copy of the Bhagavad Gita somewhere in the house.

• "But India's greatest export of all may turn out to be its most ancient: Buddhism ... which remains a central theme of this book." [p. 27]

East Asian Civilization

• "China is the center of East Asian civilization and is poised to become the preeminent power of the global village." [p. 27]
  
  
• "The political and cultural dynamics that accompany China's ascent to world power are themselves evolving, and no one yet knows what shapes they will assume. The Chinese leadership is both enthusiastic and cautious - committed to the openness that economic growth demands, yet aware that some conservative constancy is required as a stable background to constructive change." [p. 27 - 28]
  
  
• "Chinese philosophical traditions are also unique, and unprecedented in the West. Tao is one of the most beautiful and profound concepts ever to dawn in the human mind, yet it is by definition inexplicable in any tongue, and was for a long time incomprehensible to the West." [p. 28]

  I would say that of all the philosophies that I have read, I find Taoism to be the most appealing.

• "East Asian civilization has proved adept at studying and learning from the West; but Western civilization has not proved adept at studying and learning from East Asia." [p. 29]
  
  
• "The individual can sustain an inflated sense of importance in the West; in Asia, the individual is a drop in the ocean." [p. 29]
  
  
• "The foundational practical philosophy that underpins Chinese and Japanese civilizations is Confucian, and derives from his application of the Tao." [p. 32]

Convergence at Ground Zero: From Locality to Globality

• "Globalization is commingling the four great civilizations and dissolving their boundaries in historically unprecedented ways. Each of these civilizations is converging, as well conflicting , with the others." [p. 37]

Happily Ever After, or a Good Life Now?

• "... nothing is local, everything is global ..." [p. 39]

  Language can be very tricky. Globalization may refer to the economic networks that are rapidly expanding, with many attendant problems. But it also refers to the increasing level of interconnectness of all peoples through improved communications and travel. The next three chapters cover the basic ideas of the three ABCs: Aristotle, Buddha, and Confucius. I am optimistic that Marinoff will do as fine a job of highlighting the principle tenants of each philosopher as he did in this chapter of providing an overview of world cultures.

Tags: philosophy, religion