What is Western philosophy? The established narrative of 'our' intellectual tradition begins with classical Greek reason: championed by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, revived and perfected in...Show moreWhat is Western philosophy? The established narrative of 'our' intellectual tradition begins with classical Greek reason: championed by Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, revived and perfected in Enlightenment rationalism and empiricism, to culminate in the modern European canon of Kant, Frege or Nietzsche. Conspicuously absent are any 'Middle Eastern' sources, notably Arabic and Persian philosophy. 'Islamic golden age' Aristotelians are often seen as babysitting rationality during a supposed mediaeval 'Christian dark age'. But the original impact on contemporary thought by the likes of al-Ghazali (d.1111) or Suhrawardi (d.1191) is ignored. Analysing this conspicuous absence reveals a deep binary structure in the narrative. Our canon is in fact made universally valid by excluding everything deemed mystical and arbitrary: Eastern religious thought. All religious traditions — especially Islam — represent this non-Western un-philosophy, simultaneously 'foreign' and 'archaic'. To recover our proper intellectual history, beyond this colonialist binary, we can employ a provocative redefinition: North-Atlantic (modern European) philosophy as "Far Western", and all broadly Mediterranean (Greco-Judaic and Islamo-Christian) philosophy as "Middle Western". This foregrounds the relations within the West, further suggesting its interdependence with all philosophies, including Sino-Indic ones.Show less
This thesis provides an analysis on the J-horror film Kairo (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 2001) and Studio Ghibli's Pom Poko (Takahata Isao, 1994) and their connection to the concept of furusato. Furusato, a...Show moreThis thesis provides an analysis on the J-horror film Kairo (Kurosawa Kiyoshi, 2001) and Studio Ghibli's Pom Poko (Takahata Isao, 1994) and their connection to the concept of furusato. Furusato, a nostalgic longing for the countryside as metaphorical "old home", is expressed very differently in these films: while Pom Poko heavily emphasises this nostalgia, furusato is implicitly present in Kairo through its absence.Show less
How did the distinct cultural, ethnic, and linguistic groups, who originated from valleys separated by natural barriers, and their cultural traditions, become one 'homogenous' constitutional monarchy?
In the present Javanese society, the sacred flower Widjojo Koesoemo is considered to be a myth with no reference on the once-existed court tradition to obtain the flower for Javanese king. In this...Show moreIn the present Javanese society, the sacred flower Widjojo Koesoemo is considered to be a myth with no reference on the once-existed court tradition to obtain the flower for Javanese king. In this research, I demonstrate the role of Widjojo Koesoemo flower and the ritual mission to obtain the flower in the court of Surakarta during the Dutch colonial period. Based on Javanese manuscripts, the mission to obtain Widjojo Koesoemo flower was an important tradition and could be traced back from Javanese mythology as early as 12th century. In the 19th century, both the flower and the mission were needed to build the legitimacy of the king of Surakarta. After coronation, a new king of the court of Surakarta would send a mission to obtain Widjojo Koesoemo. Due to the spiritual matters of this mission, Juru suranata, the court ritual leader, and kyai, the court’s religious leader from Masjid Agung of Surakarta were the key members of this mission. Certain challenges to the flower and the mission appeared when the Dutch scientists in the 19th century tried to demystify the sacred foundation of this flower by looking for it and then classified it into Linnaean taxonomy. I argue that the “silent” rejection of the Dutch finding by the court of Surakarta and continual missions to obtain the flower from 1830 - 1939 are evidenced of Javanese cultural persistence. From this tradition, the king’s rightful cultural authority over the entire kingdom of Surakarta remained unchanged even in the period of its political subjugation to the Dutch colonial government.Show less
