Tama in Japanese Myth attempts to elucidate Japanese religious experiences by presenting a new interpretation of the oldest existing text of Japanese myth; the Kojiki. Informed by phenomenological hermeneutics; Iwasawa shows that the concept of tama lies at the core of Japanese religious experiences. Tama is often compared to spirit and soul in Western philosophy and religion and especially to the German concept of Geist. Tama develops in ways that do not assume a dichotomy between the ideational and the sensible; which is precisely the dichotomy informing Western theism and the Platonic tradition of metaphysics. Iwasawa argues that the Western concept of God; far from explaining all possible connections between the human and the divine; is less than satisfactory for analyzing Japanese religious experiences. Iwasawa proceeds by examining the Japanese notion of tama as an inquiry into the origin of values wholly unaffected by the Western idea of a moral God.
#3936552 in Books 1998-12Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.26 x 9.29 x 6.26l; #File Name: 0760708606322 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Buyer beware...By Bookworm64This is probably the most biased book on Napoleon I ever read. Not that that is necessarily a bad thing in and of itself; but it certainly doesn't help. Much of the book is mere recounting; and if you are looking at his military career; I'm not sure how much when he changed his name from the Italian spelling to the French should matter; or how his Corsican upbringing made him inherently criminal and prone to trust family...which sounds like every ancient regime France fought during the wars; but it's different because he's Napoleon; I guess. There really wasn't much explanation for why things were a mistake; either. At Essling; he makes it sound more like Archduke Charles gave up than Napoleon won; and somehow gave the French far more casualties than some sources; but he doesn't explain just HOW Charles's trap would have worked to begin with. It pretty much continues in this vein...call something a mistake; 'failure' is proof it was a mistake; move on without details or explaining. There was really no discussion of his ability to inspire his men; his organization; anything; and this permeated the whole book. He's calls Lannes a mediocre at best general; then states how bad this loss was to Napoleon when he got killed. What?!? There's minimal at best discussion about why he made major decisions or movements (leave Spain after effectively winning in order to fight the Austrians and Prussians; then has to deal with other things; and finally his invasion of Russia) but no linking them together in a coherent fashion. Certainly no mention about how Britain was always supporting everyone against France in order to maintain the policy of making sure no one nation gained hegemony on the continent in order to keep Britain safe. Also: the author worked for the SOE in WWII...and they did not do too many smart things themselves; and were big on guerilla and terror tactics. Not sure how well that qualifies him for discussing 'honest' warfare.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy D. OlpadwalaExcellent book with rich details of Napoleon' campaigns.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. OuchBy HistorianVery dry. There must be better studies out there
