[Buddha-l] Another query

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Fri, 2005-07-22 at 20:50 -0400, StormyTet at aol.com wrote:

>  I am just beginning the process of digesting the
> modernist/postmodernist debates.  It seems to me that there is some
> similarities between postmodern thought and Buddhism.  Has this ever
> been a topic of scholarly discussion in Buddhist academic circles? Any
> suggestions where to look?

There has been quite a bit written on this topic (or set of topics).
Darrin Mortson wrote an excellent MA thesis on the topic, which might be
available through the national archives in Canada or through McGill
University. More easily obtained sources would be Robert Magliola and
David Loy. Loy edited a collection of essays called <cite>Healing
deconstruction: postmodern thought in Buddhism and Christianity</cite>,
which might give you some useful leads. Look also at his
<cite>Nonduality: a study in comparative philosophy</cite>.

You might also consider treating yourself to Robert G. Morrison's book
<cite> Nietzsche and Buddhism: a study in nihilism and ironic
affinities</cite> (Oxford University Press, 1997). Nietzsche, after all,
had a strong influence on a range of thinkers on whom the much-overused
postmodern label has been pinned.

Steven Odin has written quite a lot on various affinities between
prominent Buddhists and post-structuralists (and Pragmatists). You might
also find materials by the late David L. Hall, who was at University of
Texas at El Paso; Hall's interests were Confucianism and Anglo-American
thinkers such as A.N. Whitehead and Richard Rorty, but I think he also
had at least a passing interest in some of those strange beasts known as
Chinese Buddhists, although I can't cite any references offhand. 

The best journal to look into, of course, is Philosophy East and West.
It is filled with articles exploring various facets of this topic. If
you have access to an on-line version through an academic library, you
can download postmodernist takes on Buddhism to your heart's content.

-- 
Richard Hayes
http://www.unm.edu/~rhayes