Review by Choice Review
Kupperman (Univ. of Connecticut) presents this volume as a response to increased interest in Asian philosophy and suggests that it is needed because current books in Asian philosophy fail to make clear what the most widely read Asian classics are about. He sees this volume as a "generalist" rather than a "specialist" project. Kupperman provides eight chapters, each of which focuses on selections from individual classic texts of Asian philosophy, and each of which he has used in courses as assigned reading. He tells his readers that the goal in producing this volume has been, in each instance of Asian philosophy, to make the texts "come alive," so that the reader can see the philosophies struggling with currently important questions that really matter to both Eastern and Western readers. He includes selections from eight widely read Asian texts: the Upanishads, Dhammapada, Bhagavad Gita, the writings of Confucius and Mencius, the Tao Te Ching, the Zhuangzi, and Zen Flesh and Zen Bones. The last chapter is an essay by Kupperman titled "Classic Asian Philosophies as Guides to Life." For all academic levels, from lower-division undergraduates to faculty, and for general readers. M. C. Rose emeritus, Goucher College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
