NEWSLETTER | The American Philosophical Association Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies SPRING 2017 VOLUME 16 | NUMBER 2 FROM THE EDITOR Prasanta S. Bandyopadhyay SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND INFORMATION ARTICLES Julianne Chung The Upside of Non-Specialist Teaching: A Reply to Cline Philip F. Williams Fundamentalist Thinking in Chinese Maoist “Thought Remolding” Niranjan Saha A Brief Note on the Probable Place of Origin of Madhusūdana Sarasvatī and the Influence of Caitanyaite Movement on Him CALL FOR PAPERS VOLUME 16 | NUMBER 2 SPRING 2017 © 2017 BY THE AMERICAN PHILOSOPHICAL ASSOCIATION ISSN 2155-9708 APA NEWSLETTER ON Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies PRASANTA S. BANDYOPADHYAY, EDITOR VOLUME 16 | NUMBER 2 | SPRING 2017 to contribute significantly both to the teaching of Chinese FROM THE EDITOR philosophy to students and to the philosophy profession at large, as the work of specialists and non-specialists might Prasanta S. Bandyopadhyay be mutually informative. MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY Philip Williams looks at contemporary China from the I have edited three issues of the newsletter so far pivoting perspective of its political and social development during around “Indian philosophy and culture.”1 The rationale for and after the Mao Zedong Era (1949–1976). He investigates it is that I have more familiarity with India and its cultural the relevance of Corliss Lamont’s comments on some dynamics than the rest of Asia. However, the purpose of our nagging problems that political doctrines could beget. newsletters is to be more inclusive in terms of integrating Lamont, who is a well-known American social/political topics and issues that do not always fall under the rubric of philosopher with a strong leaning toward left-wing and civil typical philosophical scholarship, in addition to not being liberties, writes that the worst feature of authoritarianism limited to one specific part of Asia. So it is time to expand arises when a political doctrine saps into the vitality of an our horizons, as philosophical issues developed in both individual in the name of “Utopian promises.” Borrowing a classical and modern China are similarly important for our cue from Lamont, Williams has weaved a narrative of how readers. This issue of the newsletter contains two papers on fundamentalism and orthodoxy have prevailed in modern China and one on India where the names of those countries China. To familiarize the reader with the debilitating are used broadly. One of the papers on China deals with influence of Maoist’s ideology, he distinguishes among issues regarding the teaching of Chinese philosophy by a five features of fundamentalist thought. They are (i) non-specialist, and the second one concerns philosophical exclusivity of doctrines, (ii) incontestability of doctrine, and political problems stemming from the hegemony of (iii) salvationist rhetoric, (iv) demands for confession, and, the Communist Party in China. The third and final paper is finally, (v) oppositional character. Under the first category, dedicated to a well-known Advaita Vedānta philosopher in he points out that although there exists some religious seventh century Bengal. freedom in China in terms of what citizens could practice, he aptly argues that they are required to show allegiance to The paper by Julianne Chung discusses several potential the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which totally controls advantages associated with non-specialist teaching of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), Chinese philosophy. Here, she responds to an earlier paper as there exists nothing over and above the authority of the by Erin Cline, published in the spring 2016 edition of the CCP. Although both the Dalai Lama and Falun Gong leader newsletter (for reference, please see Chung’s paper). Li Hongzhi were long trying to co-exist with the Party-state, Cline contends that a recent trend toward having non- the power and influence of these two religious leaders experts teach Chinese philosophy has generated two­ have posed threats for the Beijing powerhouse. In the end, fold problems: (i) It prevents departments from hiring Williams explores a possible reason for the emergence of a specialist in Chinese philosophy; and (ii) It overlooks fundamentalism both in Europe and East Asian countries. difficulties involved in imparting Chinese philosophy to His diagnosis for Russia and China is that dictators like students, connected with the fact that specialized training Stalin and Mao, although belonging to the opposite ends of in Chinese philosophy is needed to teach it well. Merely a spectrum, are at bottom of the same mold. They wanted requiring some acquaintance with Chinese philosophy, to transform the citizens of their respective countries into a Cline rejoins, fails to appreciate its complexity, which only a New Socialist Human framework where citizens are obliged specialist can discern. Agreeing with Cline on most issues, to forfeit all the attributes of a human individual at the altar Chung, however, launches a sustained defense of the of social development. benefits of non-specialists offering courses that include Chinese philosophy, for any philosophy department in The third and final paper by Niranjan Saha addresses two particular and the profession in general. Moreover, she historical issues. The first concerns the point of origin of thinks that non-specialists are uniquely poised to provide Madhusūdana Sarasvatī, and the second one handles the new insights and novel ways of interpreting Chinese influence of Śrīcaitanya (fifteenth century) movement on philosophy than otherwise possible. She believes that this him. Sarasvatī is a fifteenth-seventeenth century intellectual is because a non-specialist is able to cross the aisles of two icon in Advaita Vedānta, a non-dualistic philosophy advanced traditions (Western and non-Western) while utilizing their first by Śaṃkara in the seventh-eighth century Common Era. particular specialization(s) to bring to bear on their teaching. Although Sarasvatī’s polemical skill was legendary, he also She concludes, for this reason, that a non-specialist is able authored books on devotional theory in Advaita tradition. APA NEWSLETTER | ASIAN AND ASIAN-AMERICAN PHILOSOPHERS AND PHILOSOPHIES There are controversies about the place where Sarasvatī Americans and their philosophy and to make the both developed and sharpened his analytic acumen. Some resources of Asians and Asian-American philosophy scholars have argued that he might have hailed from the available to a larger philosophical community. The South rather than from Bengal. Saha is inclined to believe newsletter presents discussions of recent developments that it is very likely that Sarasvatī was from Bengal, and that in Asians and Asian-American philosophy (including, the Bengal Vaiṣņavism or Gauḍīya Vaiṣņavism propagated for example, both modern and classical East-Asian by Śrīcaitanya and his followers in the later period had a philosophy, both modern and classical South Asian far-reaching bearing on his philosophical consideration philosophy, and Asians and Asian Americans doing and vice versa. However, although Saha is cautious that it is philosophy in its various forms), related work in hardly possible to be conclusive regarding the genealogy other disciplines, literature overviews, reviews of and birth place for such a scholar when data are skimpy the discipline as a whole, timely book reviews, and and lack historical underpinning, he tried to draw his suggestions for both spreading and improving the conclusion both based on primary (textual) evidence and teaching of Asian philosophy in the current curriculum. modern scholarship on the subject. It also informs the profession about the work of the APA Committee on Asian and Asian-American Philosophers There is a list of referees who have contributed to the quality and Philosophies. One way the dissemination of of the papers for this issue by their insightful comments. I knowledge of the relevant areas occurs is by holding am indebted to three such referees, Bo Mou, Ethan Mills, highly visible, interactive sessions on Asian philosophy and Joseph Yick, for their helpful comments. As always, at the American Philosophical Association’s three I am thankful to both Jay Garfield and Erin Shepherd for annual divisional meetings. Potential authors should their constant help and guidance regarding the contents follow the submission guidelines below: and formatting of the issue, and Philip Williams for some editorial suggestions. i) Please submit essays electronically to the editor(s). Articles submitted to the newsletter should be NOTES limited to ten double-spaced pages and must 1. In fact, I co-edited those three issues with Matthew Dasti. It is follow the APA submission guidelines. possible that he may not fully agree with my take on the contents of the previous newsletters as I have stated here. This is why I ii) All manuscripts should be prepared for anonymous have not mentioned his name in the body of the introduction. review. Each submission shall be sent to two referees. Reports will be shared with authors. References should follow The Chicago Manual Style. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES AND iii) If the paper is accepted, each author is required to sign a copyright transfer form, available on the APA INFORMATION website, prior to publication. GOAL OF THE NEWSLETTER ON ASIANS AND 2) Book reviews and reviewers: If you have published a ASIAN AMERICAN PHILOSOPHERS book that you consider appropriate for review