NotaBene

NotaBene å åëåêòðîííî ñïèñàíèå çà ôèëîñîôñêè è ïîëèòè÷åñêè íàóêè. Ïîâå÷å çà íàñ

The Multifaceted East

In this issue

Journal NotaBene Issue 39 (2018) Editor: Antoaneta Nikolova The topic of this issue is connected with a project funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action, grant No 753561

Topic of the issue: The Multifaceted East

YOGA: THE BASIS OF THE SUKHAVATIVYUHA-MANDALA (part 1)

Abstract

Pictorial representation of Amitayurdhyana-sutra aims at relieving a person from mental tension. It is based on the philosophy and practice of Yoga for attaining liberation from suffering. One can gain the benefits of chanting, listening or beholding its pictorial representation of the sutra like Queen Vaidehi; who listens to the words of the Buddha. By doing that his mind would become clear and focused on the ultimate reality.

Key words: Yoga, Buddhism, mandala, samathi, ultimate reality

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YOGA: THE BASIS OF THE SUKHAVATIVYUHA-MANDALA (part 2)

Abstract

Pictorial representation of Amitayurdhyana-sutra aims at relieving a person from mental tension. It is based on the philosophy and practice of Yoga for attaining liberation from suffering. One can gain the benefits of chanting, listening or beholding its pictorial representation of the sutra like Queen Vaidehi; who listens to the words of the Buddha. By doing that his mind would become clear and focused on the ultimate reality.

Key words: Yoga, Buddhism, mandala, samathi, ultimate reality

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Prana in Atharvaveda

Abstract: The present study traces back the meanings of the word prana – “breath”, “breathing”, “life force” in the context of Atharvaveda. In Atharvaveda prana is often associated with life and longevity, with breathing and breath, with the maintenance of life, with seeing, hearing, power and offspring. prana is the master of all living and non-living and controls the whole universe. He is the observer of everything. By wind or air, the breath prana is connected to the whole universe. The disappearance of pranas leads to death, and on this conception are based some of the spells for eliminating enemies by drawing their breath away.

On the basis of the meanings of the word prana in the studied excerpts from Atharvaveda, a semantic map of the word was created. For comparison with the Bulgarian language, a semantic map of the word äèøàì – “to breath”, was also created.

Key words: prana, veda, Atharvaveda

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The Yin-Yang Concept in the Light of the Contemporary Field Theory

Abstract: This paper explores some western receptions of the Chinese concepts yin and yang and their philosophical reflection as à primordial symbolic system. The assumption of the underlying homology in the Universe as a whole suggests that there are related orders of events, which are connected in a non-local, a-causal manner. Jung calls the Taoist approach the 'synchronistic way' - Yijing (the cosmological Book of Changes) involves the study and classification of events wherein meaningful interdependence transcends space, time and causality as a determining factor. Very close to the model of The Great Ultimate, representative for the yin - yang relationship, virtual particles in atomic physics correspond with one another in some basic aspect, even in some cases their identities are contained one within the other.

Key words: Eastern philosophy, modern science, synchrony, yin, yang, Dao, taiji.

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Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing" - Laozi and Parmenides - a comparative analysis

The purpose of this article is to compare the Western and the Eastern approach of the philosophical question 'Why Being is there rather than Non-Being?' For the goals of our work we use two fundamental names of the history of philosophy - Laozi and Parmenides. The article compares the thoughts of the two philosophers concerning the ontological aspects of this problem. The text follows the words of the two texts and finds some basic similarities and differences. It seems that both Laozi and Parmenides agree that Being and Dao are metaphysical conditions for existence itself. They are not static but dynamic and however transcendent they might seem to be, they do present in the world we perceive. The ontological approach of the metaphysical problem of Being and Non-Being is revealed through specific metaphors which are object of analysis in this work.

Key words: boundary, ontology, nothing, emptiness, Dao, Doxa, Aletheia, Parmenides, Laozi

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Podium

Reality and Reflection in Far East Thought

The aim of the paper is to discuss what concepts of far Eastern thought correspond to such concepts of the Western thought as "reality" and "reflection". In order to answer this question the three main teachings of Chinese thought, Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, are briefly analysed. The conclusion is that Chinese thought reveals the world in terms of change, transformation and mutual dependence. Therefore, its aesthetics is not based on an opposition between some independent and objective reality and some independent subject reflecting it. Rather it is based on complementarity and mutual response of inner and outer, permanence and change, openness and closeness. Its main characteristics are mutuality and co-creation that transform both aspects of the process.

Key words: Chinese philosophy, reality, reflection, change, response, haiku

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Reality and Reflections in the Western Short Poems and Haiku

The theme of Reality reflections in the poetic text has numerous projections in different levels of philosophical and literary science. The aim of the present work is the study from one viewpoint connected to the shortest Western poetic forms and Haiku. There is a special focus on a dialogue between East and West.

Keywords: Far East; West; haiku; aphorism, proverb, one line poem.

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Minima moralia

Haiku - Between Creativity and Dogmatism

Generally, the article argues over the issue what haiku is according to contemporary perceptions, how far the poet's freedom stretches in a poetry of strict cannon - and to what extent the proclaimed rules serve artistic creativity or turn into a dogma which poses limitations to the artistic process. It briefly touches upon metaphor, the presence of abstract notions, the rhythm of 5-7-5 syllables and so on. Examples are provided to illustrate these concepts.

Key words: haiku, rules, creativity

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About the Impact of Shinto and Zen on Haiku

This article is about the impact of Shinto and Zen on Haiku. It aims to add another touch to the theme of the impact of Shinto and Zen on Haiku poetry. The author considers the Haiku problem from the point of spiritual paths. And the main thesis is that one can not speak of the influence of a separate spiritual tradition on Haiku, because the very essence of the Japanese is multi-layered, enriched with the intertwining of the Shinto, the local tradition, with Zen, the introduced tradition. Other influences such as: an era preceding Haiku creative works, influences of personalities, etc. are being considered. The article examines the period of creation of this art and analyzes the prerequisites and the reason for its occurrence. Key facts about the Shinto and Zen traditions are presented which show how and where these spiritual paths intertwine and form a unique pathway called Zen. The conclusion is that the Japanese Buddhist is a born Japanese, which means that he generally carries a shin. And the influence of Shinto and Zen on Haiku can be seen in the given and analyzed examples of Haiku.

Key words: shinto, zen, haiku

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Babylon

Translation of Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture - First Part

"Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture" is a collection of books presenting the most important concepts of Chinese philosophy, thought, culture, and art. Here, a selection of concepts from the first book of the collection in Bulgarian (Sofia, 2017) is provided with the kind permission of the East-West Publishing house. The text is translated by Petko Hinov, a prominent translator from Chinese and Old Chinese, a winner of the special price of the Society of Bulgarian Translators for exceptional translation achievements and of the National price of the Ministry of Culture for translation.

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Translation of Key Concepts of the Chinese Thought and Culture - Second Part

"Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture" is a collection of books presenting the most important concepts of Chinese philosophy, thought, culture, and art. Here, a selection of concepts from the first book of the collection in Bulgarian (Sofia, 2017) is provided with the kind permission of the East-West Publishing house. The text is translated by Petko Hinov, a prominent translator from Chinese and Old Chinese, a winner of the special price of the Society of Bulgarian Translators for exceptional translation achievements and of the National price of the Ministry of Culture for translation.

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Announcement

Social Engineering in China

Summary: The social engineering may sound as a new science for understanding the social patters and human behavior as members of the state, but it's roots can be found way in the past. Political philosophers like Confucius onward offered their understanding, analyses and prescription for implying social order. During the long and colorful history of China the notion for society and its development and relations has changing, but in some strange way kept its basic values, founded since ancient times. Even now, when China is the second world economy, the government initiates a program for control and social engineering over its subjects, that is nothing but reform of old Confucius idea for maintaining the social order using education and ethical conduct.

Keywords: Social engineering, Confucius, Chinese society, Education, Social credit, Women Status

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Historical roots and modern trends in the field of AI; Why process approach is necessary to progress

Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a renown subject which has been studied for almost a century. In brief, the subject famously began with Turing and his thought experiment: The Turing Test, furthered by others such as Searle with his Chinese room experiment, and explored by a plethora other philosophers and scientists. Modern technology is developing at an exponential rate and currently shows no signs of plateau. It becomes consistently more important in our daily lives. If we keep thinking in this direction, we can imagine a near future where artificially intelligent agents and humans interact through human language, we already have speech recognition in our mobile phones. Our smart machines are becoming more intelligent and are likely to soon be capable of simple thought. There is a real need of a new method, a new philosophy to answer the modern world's questions. It is my belief that in a collaboration between Philosophy of AI and process philosophy these answers can be obtained.

This paper aims to outline some of the historical and modern prerequisites for the development of new philosophical methodology to address the question of artificial intelligence. Briefly, the historical foundations of artificial intellect thinking have been explored starting from ancient times and going through the era of Romanticism, reaching to the present day. Here are some of the most up-to-date and current topics in 2017, as well as the positions of prominent scientists, technologists, developers and computer specialists. Presented in the second part of the paper are some of the modern tendencies in the philosophy of artificial intelligence; why the classical philosophical methods no longer work so well in examining the problems, what they miss and how they could be supplemented. The third part proposes using the approach of process philosophy as most relevant to the contemporary situation. Further discussed is the renowned founder of process philosophy, the mathematician and philosopher Alfred Whitehead, as well as some of his points of view relevant to the current paper. Other positions of modern philosophers such as William James, who support Whitehead's views, are considered as part of examining a new philosophical methodology to artificial intelligence.

Keywords: philosophy, artificial intelligence, AI, philosophy of AI, philosophy of artificial intelligence, process philosophy, pragmatism, epistemology, ontology, Alfred Whitehead, William James, Margaret Boden, John Searl, Vesselin Petrov.

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Poiesis

Haiku

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Yin-Yang - Pictures

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