Buddhist Antidotes against Greek Maladies: Ritschl, Harnack, and the Dehellenization of Intercultural Philosophy

One of the most prolific approaches to the comparative study of Buddhist and Christian philosophy has been the use of Buddhist anti-metaphysicism to overcome the allegedly obsolete metaphysical discourse of Christianity. This approach has been practiced, among others, by Edgar Bruns, Frederik Streng...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Muller, Fabien (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: University of Hawaii Press 2023
In: Buddhist Christian studies
Year: 2023, Volume: 43, Pages: 181-210
Further subjects:B Interculturality
B Buddhism
B Essentialism
B Ontology
B Ancient Philosophy
B Metaphysics
B Hellenization
B Interfaith Dialogue
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
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Summary:One of the most prolific approaches to the comparative study of Buddhist and Christian philosophy has been the use of Buddhist anti-metaphysicism to overcome the allegedly obsolete metaphysical discourse of Christianity. This approach has been practiced, among others, by Edgar Bruns, Frederik Streng, Joseph O'Leary, and John Keenan. Keenan's 1980-1990s seminal works were determinative in that they appeared to rely on intuitive and evident premises: Christianity became infused with Greek metaphysical concepts early on; consequently, it adopted the forms of essentialism and ontological discourse practiced in metaphysics. That discourse has now become obsolete and must be overcome; Buddhist anti-metaphysicism helps overcome it; hence, Christianity can learn from Buddhism. In this paper, I show that although Keenan presents the first of these claims as self-evident, it is in fact highly polemical. Its origins lie in Albrecht Ritschl's and Adolf von Harnack's Hellenization theory. While the theological and historical background to this theory has been debated, Keenan does not engage in these debates. Even more, he transforms the theory in such a way that it becomes incongruent with its inherent aim. Following the problems implied on these two levels, I suggest that Keenan's project makes itself vulnerable to incoherencies. In the end, I argue for the overcoming of antimetaphysicism as a basis for Buddhist-Christian dialogue.
ISSN:1527-9472
Contains:Enthalten in: Buddhist Christian studies