•  60
    From freedom to equality: Rancière and the aesthetic experience of equality
    Continental Philosophy Review 48 (3): 341-358. 2015.
    This article examines Rancière’s political reading of aesthetics through a historical analysis into the two aesthetic theories of freedom at work in Rancière’s philosophy; Kant’s freedom as self-governance and Schiller’s freedom as harmony. While aesthetic experience is considered morally conducive through its association with freedom, this article argues that Rancière translates such discussions of freedom into that of equality by extracting the political dimensions of aesthetic experience. Giv…Read more
  •  25
    Hope without the Future
    Journal of Japanese Philosophy 4 107-135. 2016.
    In this article, I examine Dōgen’s Shōbōgenzō to reconsider the notion of hope, many discourses of which are characteristically future oriented. Although there is an overwhelming suspicion that hope is incompatible with Buddhism due to its forward-looking nature, I argue that Dōgen’s Buddhist soteriology can establish a present-focused conception of hope that can challenge the dominant discourses of hope. In this comparative analysis, I first examine the conditions for hope and show that most th…Read more
  •  19
    Abstract:This article conducts a close textual analysis of "A Painting of a Rice Cake (Gabyō)," a key fascicle in the Shōbōgenzō that reveals the significance of artistic creation as a metaphor for realizational practice. By analyzing the multiple meanings of "gabyō," it is shown that artistic creation can clarify the nonduality of practice and enlightenment in Dōgen's thought, inasmuch as enlightenment is a constant practice as if making an evanescent and cocreative painting of enlightenment wi…Read more
  •  15
    Mössbauer effect studies of Fe–C combinatorially sputtered thin films
    with M. A. Al-Maghrabi and R. J. Sanderson
    Philosophical Magazine 93 (24): 3278-3290. 2013.
  •  8
    Mössbauer effect and X-ray diffraction investigation of Si–Fe thin films
    with J. D. McGraw, M. D. Fleischauer, and J. R. Dahn
    Philosophical Magazine 86 (32): 5017-5030. 2006.
  •  5
    Unexamined Zen: Challenges from Dōgen’s Zen Buddhism
    Journal of Chinese Philosophy 50 (4): 358-370. 2024.
    The traditional narrative of Zen Buddhism focuses on a religious experience that goes beyond words and concepts. I argue that Dōgen’s understanding of enlightenment is not limited to a religious experience, as it involves a creative process of Buddha-making that demands the flexibility to present a novel expression of the Buddha way with the transiency of the impermanent world. In arguing for the processual understanding of the Buddha way and enlightenment, I refer to the fluidity of dao in Chin…Read more
  •  4
    With an excellent compilation of essays, Tetsugaku Companion to Nishida Kitarō offers an answer to one of the foundational questions for any philosophical research: Why Nishida at all? To seasoned...
  •  4
    Zen Pathways by Bret W. Davis (review)
    Philosophy East and West 73 (4): 1-4. 2023.
    In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Reviewed by:Zen Pathways by Bret W. DavisRika Dunlap (bio)Zen Pathways. By Bret W. Davis. New York: Oxford Unity Press, 2022. Pp. 455. Hardcover $110.00, isbn 978-0-19-757369-3.Bret Davis introduces Zen Pathways as his attempt to write "the book that I wish had been there for me to read more than thirty years ago, when I started down the parallel pathways of Zen and philosophy" (p. xi). Although much ink has been spilled on the tradi…Read more
  •  3
    In Praise of Risk (review)
    Environmental Philosophy 18 (2): 357-359. 2021.
  • Zen Buddhist Ethics and the Bodhisattva Vow
    In Michael Hemmingsen (ed.), Ethical Theory in Global Perspective, Suny Press. pp. 305-318. 2024.
    An accessible introduction to Zen Buddhist moral philosophy.
  • The Ethical Implications of Enlightenment in Dōgen’s Philosophy of Compassion
    In Kido Atsushi, Noe Keiichi & Lam Wing Keung (eds.), Tetsugaku Companion to Feeling, Springer Verlag. pp. 101-115. 2024.
    What is the role of feelings (jō) in Dōgen’s Buddhist thought? Throughout the Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki, it is clear that Dōgen has a negative view of human feelings (ninjō), as he thinks they are born out of our ignorance. Nevertheless, Dōgen does not dismiss feelings per se, insofar as we can align our disposition and emotional responses according to the Buddha way. The key to this alignment is compassion: although Dōgen refers to human feelings as something negative, his elucidations are qualified …Read more