But Not Philosophy: Seven Introductions to Non-Western Thought
Author(s): George Anastaplo (Author), John Van Doren (Foreword)
Publisher: Lexington Books
Publication Date: 30 Sept. 2001
Language: English
Print length: 472 pages
ISBN-10: 0739102893
ISBN-13: 9780739102893
Book Description
George Anastaplo has written brilliantly and persuasively about ancient and modern Western political philosophy and literature and about American Constitutional history and law. With his latest book Anastaplo turns away from his areas of admitted expertise to offer, in his own words, ‘the explorations of a determined amateur with some practice in reading.’ The essays contained in this volume were originally conceived as a set of seminars, each culminating in a public lecture, which in turn formed the basis for contributions to Encyclopedia Brittanica’s 1961-1998 series The Great Ideas Today. Gathered in this one volume, But Not Philosophy provides useful and thought-provoking introductions to seven major ‘schools’ of non-Western thought: Mesopotamian, ancient African, Hindu, Confucian, Buddhist, Islamic, and North American Indian. Anastaplo studies ancient literary epics and legal codes and examines religious traditions and systems of thought, providing detailed references to authoritative histories and commentators. Movingly and thoughtfully written, the essays encourage readers to bring their own Western traditions under similar scrutiny, to study our own grasp of the divine, reliance upon nature and causality, and dependence on philosophy-to learn about what we are from what we are not.
Editorial Reviews
Review
This is a unique book that deserves a wide readership among students of religion and of philosophy. . . . I believe it will be of enormous usefulness both to beginning students and to mature scholars: it will help all searchers for the truth attain a clearer view of the intellectual depths in the non-Western traditions, and of their continued challenges to us. — Kenneth Hart Green, University of Toronto
George Anastaplo is America’s hidden intellectual treasure. Few know so much about so many things, and nobody knows as much about the intellectual traditions of the world as he does. This book is a triumph of intelligence, taste, and common sense. . . . It is simply the best current introduction to non-Western thinking. — Stanley N. Katz, Princeton University
There is in this book an alert intelligence at work, asking questions, suggesting (sometimes surprising) hypotheses, and always bringing the texts examined back to the measure of Greek notions of nature. Also admirable are the boldness of inquiry and a serious effort to understand ancient thought. — William H. McNeill, Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago, and author of The Rise of the West.
About the Author
George Anastaplo, author of numerous books, teaches at the University of Chicago, Loyola University, and Dominican University.
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