This class pursues three main objectives. First, it aims to revisit the idea of universality and universalism from a specific East Asian perspective. Second, it proposes to examine watershed moments in Asian history when attempts were made to articulate ideas whose inclusiveness converges with the concept of universality. Third, it examines the phase of Japanese intellectual and religious history spanning between the 1870s and the 1930s (before the rise of fascism) as a case study. During this time period Japan faced a series of challenges, including fast industrialization, the creation of a national identity, and the encounter with early globalization. This phase also coincides with the timeframe during which Taiwan was under Japanese rule.
The first objective involves venturing into the largely unchartered territory of exploring new avenues to define the contours of what remains valid regardless of variations in time and space, despite the skeptical perspective promoted by postmodern philosophy. We must dare to move into a post-postmodern space, where speaking of humankind's common ground is not taboo anymore. In doing so, we will systematically review existing terms both in English and in Chinese that could support this endeavor. This component of the class includes conducting research on both classical sources and contemporary ones, gleaning pieces of information proving useful in creating the building blocks for a new terminology that avoids the pitfalls of perennial philosophy and of ethnocentric ideologies.
The second objective will be accomplished by gathering samples of universalistic thought that emerged in Asia, during various phases of Indic and Chinese history. These examples will be examined for their contemporary relevance, with a particular emphasis on how political circumstances often led to their abolition.
The third objective implies scrutinizing how Japanese intellectual and religious figures attempted to redefine the role and purpose of their institutions in the wake of tremendous changes that affected society and its core values. A particularly instructive time period is the one spanning roughly between 1887 and 1922, during which Unitarian representatives were stationed in Japan. The contradictions that came to the surface illustrate how the idea of “universality” could easily be distorted by colonial biases. This constitutes the focus of my book Buddhism, Unitarianism, and the Meiji Competition for Universality (Mohr 2014), from which we will read excerpts. As suggested in this publication, the Japanese encounter with western ideas about universality proved unsuccessful, because the "blend of universality [the Unitarians] preached embodied supposedly 'Western' values and occasionally served as a smoke screen for schemes of cultural superiority" (ibid, 16).
The question that was not sufficiently addressed in this book is whether the shortcomings of this failed encounter can be addressed, and what we can learn from the inadequacy of such debates. Asking those questions directly relates to the central issue of my research project in Taiwan titled “Revisiting the Root of Universalism in Chinese Buddhism: The Tath?gatagarbha Philosophy, Its Bloom During the Six Dynasties, and Its Relevance for the Twenty-first Century.” Discussions in class will allow us to fine-tune ideas revolving around universalism in the Chinese religious traditions, including pre-Buddhist attempts to define ethical values transcending time and space. Simultaneously, we will tackle the challenge of attempting to redefine universalism for the future. This will be done while acknowledging the fact that “universalism” has no strict lexical equivalent in the Chinese language, although there are plenty of approximations. It will entail considering how scholarly awareness can be translated into social action.