BHA: The "Eastern" philosophy aspect

["Tobin Nellhaus" <nellhaus@xxxxxxx>]

Gary and now Mervyn say that there's a hefty amount of Eastern thought in
FEW.  I certainly am not especially knowledgeable about Eastern ideas, but I
came away from FEW far from convinced that Bhaskar's encounter with Eastern
thought was at all thoroughgoing.  I felt that FEW's depiction of Eastern
thought was more informed by New Age eclectic spiritualism than by genuinely
Eastern ideas (which are not all of a piece anyway).  In particular, I was
surprised by FEW's clear but un-argued monotheism -- a pantheistic
monotheism, but monotheism nonetheless, in ways that I felt were deeply
Western.  I have doubts that there's anything in CR that inherently points
toward monotheism (if we're willing to entertain the notion of a CR
theology).  In fact I think CR's commitment to multiple levels and the
interaction of numerous entities possessing various powers and
susceptibilities points toward a theological translation (if there is to be
one) into some form of polytheism or animism.  In short, I'm not seeing a
lot of coherence there.

---
Tobin Nellhaus
nellhaus@xxxxxxxx
"Faith requires us to be materialists without flinching": C.S. Peirce




     --- from list bhaskar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ---