Papers by Juichiro Tanabe
Journal of the Philosophy and Religion Society of Thailand, 2024
A critical appraisal of the liberal peace thesis is founded upon the contributions of global just... more A critical appraisal of the liberal peace thesis is founded upon the contributions of global justice to a liberal system of democracy, human rights, and regulated capitalist economy with a critique and suggestion from a Buddhist philosophical perspective to build a holistic peace thesis that can meet the challenges of a multipolar world and one that is increasingly technologically complex. While liberal peace is socio-political and economically oriented, Buddhist philosophy stresses inner peace and then external peace and justice, acknowledging an interdependent relationship between inner peace and socio-political and economic aspects of peace and justice. Thereby, Buddhist philosophy questions the a priori assumptions of individualism and it follows that there is a critique of Western-oriented liberal democracy, human rights, and capitalistic economy. Through the critical appraisal, this research suggests a holistic peace that integrates inner peace, human rights principles, deliberative democracy and a sustai nable economic vision that seeks to achieve human development beyond mere material profit and reductionistic quantification and instrumentalization of humans and nature. The research extends its peace analysis to critique the existing confrontational and asymmetric global politics and offers the necessity for the practice of self-consciousness, and self-critique, for a transformation of aspects of the West in terms of its epistemological, cognitive, and behavioral terms. We also suggest an Earth-centric model of peace and justice, rather than hemispheric focused on the West. Given its tremendous power and leading influence, it is likely not easy for the West to accommodate a Buddhist philosophical approach to peace in order to develop self
Social Ethics Society Journal of Applied Ethics, 2019
Since the end of the Cold War, liberal peacebuilding that transfers Western ideals of democracy, ... more Since the end of the Cold War, liberal peacebuilding that transfers Western ideals of democracy, human rights and market-oriented economy to post-conflict zones has assumed the core role in peacebuilding enterprise. However, it invited the criticism as the imposition of Western values and the means to maintain hierarchical global structures reflecting Western predominance. This paper makes a critical analysis of liberal peacebuilding and explores a postliberal hybrid peacebuilding. The analysis claims for neither the categorical rejection of liberal peacebuilding nor the exclusive reliance on culturally-oriented peacebuilding. Rather, dualistic view of either liberal peacebuilding or culturally-oriented peacebuilding needs to be deconstructed to build a dialogical and mutual learning relationship between Western liberal actors and local actors to co-create contextually responsive and transformative peace. However, establishing such dialogical and joint learning process needs to overcome an asymmetric relation between liberal actors 20 Juichiro Tanabe and local actors that has been normal in liberal peacebuilding. Reflective self-awareness is offered as a method liberal actors should employ to enact self-critical and transformative attitude. By honing reflective self-awareness skills, Western liberals become more flexible and empathetic in post-liberal peacebuilding.
Pakistan Journal of Life and Social Sciences, 2024
Since 1990s, human security has raised its profile in global arena as international community str... more Since 1990s, human security has raised its profile in global arena as international community stressed the protection of each individual and enhancement of the quality of their life as a foundation for social and global stability. This research analyzes the compatibility between human security and Buddhism. Though the goal of Buddhism is the individual liberation from suffering and the achievement of inner serenity, Buddha's socio-political and economic advices to those in power during his time, and modern Buddhist activities represented by Socially Engaged Buddhism illustrate the interdependence between socio-political and economic environment and individual spiritual development. Poverty, lack of access to basic social welfare, and social discrimination need to be addressed. While showing the compatibility, the research also makes a Buddhist critical appraisal of the core components of human security-human rights and economy. The critical appraisal of human rights shows the differences of the view of self between the West and Buddhism. While the former stresses individualism, the latter proposes relational self that emphasizes an interdependent human relationship since Buddhism considers the excessive individualism can cause conflict and division between people. However, the critique also shows their complementary.
Social Ethics Society Journal of Applied Ethics, 2024
Peace is a dynamic and complex process. We are in a complex global era wherein a variety of socia... more Peace is a dynamic and complex process. We are in a complex global era wherein a variety of social and global problems threaten human existence beyond boundaries. Besides, despite efforts by many actors including international organizations, states, non-state organizations, and individuals, it seems that we have shown little progress in resolving them. Acknowledging such complex and uncertain moments, this research will examine a holistic peace thesis. The research will discuss a holistic peace thesis in the nexus of empowerment of citizens, its connection with socio-political and economic aspects of peace, the critique of existing asymmetric and confrontational global politics, and the necessity of the discussion of self-critique and transformation of the West. First, the holistic empowerment of citizens will be argued. Here, the gratification of basic human needs and internal intellectual and spiritual maturity will be analyzed. Second, socio-political and economic aspects of peace will be discussed. Specifically, democracy and economy and its relations with internally mature citizens will be examined. Third, the global dimension of peace will be discussed. The idea of transformative global politics will be examined. Taking an anti-essentialist view of the public place, transformative global politics as a relational transformation in the direction of unprecedented coordination among actors having different, opposing, or even prima facie antithetical Examining Holistic Peace Thesis in Complex Global Society 11 values, norms, or interests will be proposed. Arguing that developing transformative global politics requires an epistemological, cognitive, and behavioral transformation of the actors involved in the global dynamics, especially, the West, intercultural philosophy-oriented International Relations education and research will be analyzed.
Social Ethics Society Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2021
Following the critique of liberal peacebuilding that predominated global peacebuilding enterprise... more Following the critique of liberal peacebuilding that predominated global peacebuilding enterprise in the post-Cold War era, post-liberal peacebuilding has been proposed that bridges liberal peace and cultural peace. However, revolving around Eurocentrism that believes the West's historical, cultural, political, economic and intellectual distinctiveness in shaping the whole picture of global political and economic structures, epistemic and structural asymmetric relations between the West and non-West need to be addressed. This research seeks to examine how we can overcome asymmetric relationship between the liberal West and non-West, especially epistemic injustice, that is a situation in which liberal West enjoys an unfair privileged status to produce theories and knowledge that many are supposed to rely on as a reference point to engage research, education and policy making. To address intellectual and socio-political and economic asymmetries between the liberal West and non-West, intercultural philosophy is proposed. It is a process to be liberated from any form of centrism that posits a philosophy represents itself for a whole humanity. As an exemplar of intercultural philosophy approach to post-liberal peacebuilding, a critical appraisal of liberal peace from a Buddhist perspective Post-liberal Peacebuilding as Intercultural Philosophy… 59 is made, which allows this paper to produce holistic peace model combining the elements of Buddhist and liberal peace critically reformulated in Buddhist peace context.
A Holistic Peace: Buddhism and Liberal Peace
Rethinking peace and conflict studies, 2022
Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies Week 3 PPTX
Key concept in peace and conflict studies: Peace, 2018
This is the PPT slide for Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies I teach at Waseda University... more This is the PPT slide for Introduction to Peace and Conflict Studies I teach at Waseda University, Japan. The material attached is for week 3 of the class, which examines peace.
Esta obra está bajo una licencia de Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial 3.0 Unported.
The main aim of Buddhism is to examine how human mind becomes a root cause of suffering and how i... more The main aim of Buddhism is to examine how human mind becomes a root cause of suffering and how it can be addressed. This paper explores how this analysis of the human mind develops inner peace. The analysis proposes inner peace as a non-dualistic peace based on the practice of multiple functions of mind– contemplative mind, a deep cognitive transformation framed by an interdependent, interpenetrating understanding of reality, and compassionate mind – in a synergistic way. Put different, inner peace means an awakening to an ultimate inseparability between our own well-being and happiness and that of others, which inspires us to make an effort to gratify the basic needs of all and promote our freedom and justice and that of others equally.
Peace: A Very Short Introduction. Richmond, Oliver P. (2014) Peace: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford, Oxford University Press
One of the pressing problems with contemporary peacebuilding research is that much of the analysi... more One of the pressing problems with contemporary peacebuilding research is that much of the analysis focuses on the practical and technical challenges while paying little attention to the philosophical assumptions of those operations. Any understanding of peacebuilding is underpinned by philosophical frameworks as they shape and orient us towards particular strategies for peacebuilding. This paper makes a philosophical critique of liberal peacebuilding (the mainstream peacebuilding) and explores a postmodern post-liberal hybrid peacebuilding. The analysis claims neither the categorical rejection of liberal peacebuilding nor the exclusive reliance on locally-oriented peacebuilding. Rather, the upshot is the need for deconstructing dualistic view of either liberal peacebuilding or locally-oriented peacebuilding so that both external liberal actors and local actors engage in jointly learning and mutually transformative process wherein both liberal international actors and local actors lo...
A Buddhist Post-Liberal Peace: Building a Complementary Relation between Liberal Peace and Buddhist Peace for Sustainable Peace
Buddhist Philosophy of the Global Mind for Sustainable Peace
Dialogue and Universalism, 2017
While violence and conflict are the main problems that must be tackled for a peaceful world, they... more While violence and conflict are the main problems that must be tackled for a peaceful world, they are caused and sustained through our own thoughts. Though external causes must not be ignored, the most fundamental problem is an epistemological one – our way of knowing and understanding the world. Since its beginning, Buddhism has deepened its analysis of the dynamics of human mind, both as a root cause of suffering and as a source of harmony. This paper explores how Buddhism's analysis of human mind can be applied to conflict dynamics, conflict resolution, and building a sustainable peace.
New Perspectives on Human Security, 2017
This book is testimony to the emergent nature of human security as an idea, as a useful construct... more This book is testimony to the emergent nature of human security as an idea, as a useful construct and as an operational strategy. Our aim is to showcase new directions that may, we believe, enrich the human security agenda at the time of writing in 2010. Some human security discourse is still rooted in the traditional language of the aid-agency/UN development/economic growth models that emerged from the 1950s onwards, often hostile to the corporate and business sector, and sometimes negligent of environment, sustainability and climate change issues. Another limited and, in our opinion, outmoded approach, is an exaggerated focus on Western interventions, especially military ones, as a 'solution' to problems in poor or conflict-prone areas. Various synopses and analyses of current thinking on human security have already been published, including an accessible account from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (Jolly and Ray 2006). A report for the UN Centre for Regional Development from the early years of the millennium provides another good overview of human security (Mani 2002). Several major Internet-based resources provide regular updates: for example, the excellent Human Security Gateway maintained in Vancouver. We believe that proponents of a human security approach should welcome efforts to remove the barriers between enterprise, corporates, aid and develop
Philosophy Study, 2017
While addressing global problems including conflict and violence is a common human agenda, they a... more While addressing global problems including conflict and violence is a common human agenda, they are human-caused: They are created and sustained through our thoughts. Though external causes and conditions cannot be ignored, the most fundamental problem is an epistemological one-our way of knowing and viewing the world. As the shape of the global conditions relies on our thoughts or ways of thinking, it is imperative to make a critical analysis of our mind. This paper explores how the Buddhist philosophy of human mind develops a model of global mind to achieve a peaceful future. Firstly, the analysis offers the concept of "the conditioned mind"-mind shaped by socially constructed frame of reference and examines how it becomes a cause of trouble. Secondly, it proposes the concept of "the unconditioned mind"-mind-state transcendent of an attachment to any form of frame of reference as an antidote to the potential danger of the conditioned state. Then, global mind is explored. It is characterized as the mixture of the conditioned and the unconditioned mind with the practice of multiple functions of mind-mindful practice, dialectical philosophical contemplation, and compassionate mind. The appreciation and enacting of both the conditioned mind and the unconditioned mind underpinned by the multiple functions of mind empowers us to touch universal humanity and inherent dignity of all human beings and to co-create new values, norms, and visions with those having different frames of reference to embody interdependent and interconnected human relationships.
Journal of Cultural and Religious Studies, 2016
Through its history, Buddhism has deepened its analysis of the psychological dynamics of sufferin... more Through its history, Buddhism has deepened its analysis of the psychological dynamics of suffering including conflict and its resolution. This paper explores how this analysis of human mind elaborates inner peace. It is proposed as a nondualistic peace based on contemplative practice, a cognition of reality as interdependent and interpenetrating and exercise of compassionate mind in a synergistic way. It is an awareness of an ultimate inseparability between our well-being and happiness and that of others' and an effort to gratify basic needs of all, promote freedom, and justice for all equally.
Since 1990's peace research has witnessed the rise of conflict transformation as one of its k... more Since 1990's peace research has witnessed the rise of conflict transformation as one of its key ideas. This paper examines how Buddhism can contribute to conflict transformation. In Particular, it analyses how Buddhist ideas of the human mind can complement contributions from Western peace/conflict analysis. One of the limitations facing contemporary conflict transformation is the underdevelopment of qualitative arguments of the potential of the individual mind to critique and transform socially/culturally constructed discourses and knowledge causing or protracting conflict, which, this paper suggests, can be complemented by Buddhist analysis of the mind. This papers proposition is that three concepts human mind-the conditioned mind, the unconditioned mind, and holistic mind-realizes an exploration of how an expanded view of mind can contribute to qualitatively enriching the discourse on peace for future conflict transformation enterprise.
explores how the Buddhist analysis of human mind deepens the psychological dynamics of violence a... more explores how the Buddhist analysis of human mind deepens the psychological dynamics of violence and unfolds internal dimension of peace for more humane world. To this end, three sections constitute this paper. The first section expounds the Four Noble Truths doctrine that is the core of Buddhist teaching. Based on the analysis, the second section examines a Buddhist view of dynamics of violence. The upshot of this section is to delve into how our socially/culturally conditioned mind turns into a root cause of violence. And the third section unfolds a Buddhist path to overcoming violence and promoting a culture of peace. Methodological Considerations There are two things that should be considered before the discussion. Firstly, as widely recognized, Buddhism is categorized into three major schools-Theravada, Mahayana, and Vajrayana. Each of these schools further has sub-schools that have developed distinct teachings and traditions along with the shared objective, that is, uprooting suffering. It is beyond the scope of this paper to examine all of those schools in detail and to take up all their teachings to analyze their contributions to the development of the principle of non-violence and culture of peace. Therefore, the paper employs the following texts and teachings to develop the research: Dhamapada, Surangama-Sutra 4 , Nagarjuna 5 's Seventy Stanzas on Emptiness, Catustava or Four Hymns to Absolute Reality, and Mahasatipatthana Sutta or The Greater Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness. However, it must be emphatically noticed that although it embraces those texts and teachings to unfold the argument, it does not represent the entire Buddhism. Rather, it is merely one of the possible ideas of Buddhist contribution to the principle of non-violence and culture of peace as other texts and teachings would lead us to develop the arguments distinct from Philosophy East and West, 52 (3): 326-345. 4 Surangama Sutra is a sutra in Mahayana Buddhism. Especially it has been influentian in Chinese Chan Buddhist school. 5 Nagarjuna is one of the most important Buddhist philosophers, who lived between the second and third century. Nagarjuna is a founder and exponent of Madhyamaka philosophy that centers on sunyata (emptiness) doctrine to achieve liberation from suffering. Regarding the details of Nagarjuna's works and Madhyamaka philosophy, Murti's The Central Philosophy of Buddhism: A Study of Madhyamika System would be helpful.
Journal of Human Security Studies Special Issue, 2020
Since the end of the Cold War, the international community has been committed to a peacebuilding ... more Since the end of the Cold War, the international community has been committed to a peacebuilding enterprise to respond to complex violent conflicts and liberal peacebuilding has assumed the central role. However, the critique of liberal peacebuilding has required us to build a complementary relationship between the liberal peace thesis and non-Western vision(s) of peace in post-liberal peacebuilding. This paper seeks to be an exemplar by offering a hybrid peace model that integrates Buddhist peace and liberal peace. While liberal peace is structurally and institutionally oriented, Buddhism has developed internal peace. Through the critical analysis of the cores of liberal peacehuman rights, democracy, and market-oriented economyfrom a Buddhist perspective, the research offers a post-liberal hybrid holistic peace model formed by four elements: the promotion of human rights; promotion of dialogical and transformative democracy based on self-critique and mutual learning; economic system sustaining and furthering material promoting philosophical and spiritual fulfillment of citizens based on social justice and equity; and inner peace characterized as reflective self-awareness, non-dualistic thinking, a multi-perspective approach, and compassion.
Social Ethics Society Journal of Applied Philosophy., 2019
The paper discussed post-liberal peace. After liberal peacebuilding has invited the criticism as ... more The paper discussed post-liberal peace. After liberal peacebuilding has invited the criticism as the imposition of Western values and the means to maintain hierarchical global structures reflecting Western predominance, which led to the emergence of post-liberal peacebuilding. The paper makes a critical analysis of liberal peacebuilding and explores a postliberal hybrid peacebuilding. The analysis claims for neither the categorical rejection of liberal peacebuilding nor the exclusive reliance on culturally-oriented peacebuilding. Rather, dualistic view of either liberal peacebuilding or culturally-oriented peacebuilding needs to be deconstructed to build a dialogical and mutual learning relationship between Western liberal actors and local actors to co-create contextually responsive and transformative peace. However, establishing such dialogical and joint learning process needs to overcome an asymmetric relation between liberal actors and local actors that has been normal in liberal peacebuilding. Reflective self-awareness is offered as a method liberal actors should employ to enact self-critical and transformative attitude. By honing reflective self-awareness skills, Western liberals become more flexible and empathetic in post-liberal peacebuilding as intercultural communication.
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Papers by Juichiro Tanabe