Kathryn Lawson

A recurrent theme across intellectual and religious explorations, the transmigration of the soul is an ethically loaded proposition. In this essay, I will unpack the ethical imperative of reincarnation in Plato’s Timaeus in contrast to the Bhagavad Gita andthe writings of Swami Vivekananda. Within the frameworks of both the Timaeus and the Gita, I will set out the ontological structure of the world, the ethical role of the individual in the reincarnation process, and the teleological purpose of reincarnation. Ultimately, Platonic reincarnation is not ethically adequate because of its rigid hierarchy and an ultimate goal that remains in an individuated self, whereas reincarnation in the Gita offers a multitude of paths towards enlightenment and the final goal entails an interconnection with all beings. Thus, both the process and the goal lead to two vastly different ethical imperatives, and only the Bhagavad Gita’s seems robust enough to encourage an ethical life.

Engaging with Hans-Georg Gadamer and Edith Stein, this article argues that art offers us a glimpse of the interiority of both the artist and the community of connoisseurs who share in a love of art. By tarrying with the other in the artwork, the other becomes enmeshed in the meaning of that work and herself becomes a facet of how art is meaningful and world-making. This process does not claim to know the entirety of the other. Rather, the other, like the artwork, is seen only in part. A trace of the other’s interiority affirms our suspicion of connection to the other but always maintains her mystery and autonomy beyond our totalizing conceptualization. Né d’une collaboration entre Hans-Georg Gadamer et Edith Stein, cet article soutient que l’art nous offre un aperçu authentique de l’intériorité de l’artiste et de la communauté de connaisseurs qui partagent leur amour de l’art. En s’attardant avec l’autre dans l’art, l’autre commence à s’emmêler sur le sens de cet art et il devient eux-mêmes une facette de la richesse de l’art et de la trans-formation du monde. Ce processus ne prétend pas connaître l’autre dans son intégralité. Au contraire, l’autre, tout comme l’art, est vu seulement en partie. Des réminiscences de l’intériorité de l’autre confirment notre suspicion de connexion à l’autre mais préservent toujours son mystère et son autonomie au-delà de notre conceptualisation totalisante.