Notions of Love in Shinto and Buddhist Thought

• Autores: Ferenc Takó
• Localización: European Journal of Japanese Philosophy: EJJP, ISSN-e 2367-3095, Nº. 4, 2019, págs. 157-190
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The present study contributes to the analysis of different notions related to “love” in Shinto and Buddhist thought, raising the question of whether or not it is possible to speak of a “Japanese philosophy of love” based on these traditions. First, I point out some essential methodological difficulties regarding the examination of Japanese traditions of thought. Then I examine the discrepancies in the interpretation of several words denoting different kinds of the sentiment of “love” in Japanese. In the central part, I analyze the basic attitude towards such emotions in Shinto and Buddhist thought, calling attention to the most important points where the two traditions disagree with regard to their notions of “love” and related interpersonal affections. On the one hand, I point out that it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to call any group of ideas a “philosophy of love” based on these traditions in the positive sense of the word. On the other hand, I argue that love, in its very heterogeneous appearances, has a special place in both Shinto and Buddhism, and that it is particularly the characteristic differences of the emphases on related sentiments in the two traditions that one must try to grasp in order to understand the significance of love in Japanese thought.