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56Critical Epistemology for Analysis of Competing HypothesesIntelligence and National Security 33 (2): 273-289. 2018.Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH) promises a relatively objective and tractable methodology for ranking the plausibility of competing hypotheses. Unlike Bayesianism, it is computationally modest. Unlike explanationism, it appeals to minimally subjective judgments about relations between hypotheses and evidence. Yet the canonical procedures for ACH allow a certain kind of instability in applications of the methodology, by virtue of supporting competing rankings despite common evidential base…Read more
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35Soteriological Mereology in the Pāli Discourses, Buddhaghosa, and Huayan BuddhismDao: A Journal of Comparative Philosophy 22 (1): 117-143. 2023.Extant discussions of Buddhist mereology give minimal attention to the soteriological significance of denying the reality of wholes. This is unfortunate, because the connection between mereology and soteriological is both significant and problematic. The connection is significant, because it supports an argument for the unreality of composite wholes that does not depend upon any claim about the nature of wholes. The connection is also problematic, because some Buddhists endorse the soteriologica…Read more
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33A Buddhist approach to moral knowledge without godInternational Journal for Philosophy of Religion 1-16. forthcoming.Noah McKay provides a novel argument for theism over naturalism. The argument is novel because it connects metaphysical issues to issues regarding moral epistemology. The connection concerns the power of theism and naturalism, respectively, to explain the human capacity to obtain correct beliefs about the domain of morality. The gist of McKay’s argument is that theism provides a much more plausible account of this capacity than naturalism. The reason for this superiority, according to McKay, is …Read more
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25Huayan Numismatics as Metaphysics: Explicating Fazang's Coin-Counting MetaphorPhilosophy East and West 68 (4): 1155-1177. 2019.This paper explicates the counting ten coins metaphor as it appears in Fazang’s Treatise on the Five Teachings of Huayan. The goal is to transform Fazang’s inexact and obscure mentions of the metaphor into something that is clearer and more precise. The method for achieving this goal is threefold: first, presenting Fazang’s version of the metaphor as improving upon prior efforts by Zhiyan and Ŭisang to interpret a brief stanza in the Avataṁsaka sutra; second, providing textual evidence to suppor…Read more
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18Review of Kurt Pritzl, O.p. (Ed.), Truth: Studies of a Robust Presence (review)Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews 2010 (4). 2010.
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17Metaphysical foundationalism, heterarchical structure, and Huayan interdependenceAsian Journal of Philosophy 2 (2): 1-23. 2023.Standard views about metaphysical structure presume that if metaphysical structure is hierarchical, any priority ordering of individuals is rigid or situationally invariant. This paper challenges this presumption. The challenge derives from an effort to interpret the kind of metaphysical structure implicit in writings central to the Huayan tradition of Chinese Buddhism. The Huayan tradition views reality as a realm of thoroughgoing interdependence. Close attention to primary sources indicates th…Read more
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15Holistic Cognitive Style, Chinese Culture, and the Sinification of BuddhismRes Philosophica 100 (1): 93-120. 2023.According to many experiments in cross-cultural psychology, East Asians exhibit holistic cognitive style typified by use of resemblance heuristics, field dependence, external sources of causation, intuitive forms of reasoning, and interdependent forms of social thinking. Holistic cognitive style contrasts with analytic cognitive style, which is common to Westerners. Section 1 presents information on the background of Buddhism’s entry into and treatment by China. Section 2 discusses experimental …Read more
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13The Metaphysics of Identity in Fazang’s Huayan Wujiao Zhang: The Inexhaustible Freedom of Dependent OriginationIn Youru Wang & Sandra A. Wawrytko (eds.), Dao Companion to Chinese Buddhist Philosophy: Dharma and Dao, Springer Verlag. pp. 295-323. 2017.Fazang’s arguments in his Treatise on the Five Teachings of Huayan provide a philosophical foundation for the Avatamsaka Sutra’s rich and suggestive imagery. This chapter focuses on one of Fazang’s central arguments in that treatise, namely, his argument that mutually reliant dharmas are mutually identical. The chapter presents the background context for Fazang’s argument, reconstructs the argument’s logical structure, interprets the central concepts appearing therein, and explains why Fazang mi…Read more
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11A Buddhist Perspective on Energy Bending, Strength, and the Power of Aang's SpiritIn Helen De Cruz & Johan De Smedt (eds.), Avatar: The Last Airbender and Philosophy: Wisdom From Aang to Zuko, Wiley-blackwell. 2022.Aang is unwilling to kill Ozai in order to secure peace. The Lion Turtle's remark indicates that Aang's alternative strategy involves bending Ozai's energy, and that Aang is victorious because his spirit is unbendable while Ozai's presumably is bendable. Buddhist teachings identify five fundamental hindrances that foster duhkha. Aang struggles with all five hindrances, but he ultimately overcomes them and has a true heart. The first hindrance concerns sensory desire, longing for pleasure through…Read more
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Philosophy of Physical Science |
Asian Philosophy |
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The Huayan School of Chinese Buddhism |