The Interpenetration of Art and Philosophy in East Asian Poetry: the Metaphysical Threat to the Platonic Hierarchy
The Interpenetration of Art and Philosophy in East Asian Poetry: the Metaphysical Threat to the Platonic Hierarchy

Summary/Abstract: Why should art matter to a philosopher? In the context of Asian philosophy it is clear that a distinctive aesthetic underlies artistic expression encountering reality in such diverse art forms as Japanese haiku, Chinese landscape paintings, contemporary Ko-rean cinema, and even Bollywood films. Art has informed and guided politics in Asia, where artist philosophers continue to function as reformers and revolutionaries chal-lenging the status quo en route to connecting with reality. This is especially true in the case of Asian poets. In sharp contrast, the Euro-centric tradition of philosophy has ten-ded to marginalize and even denigrate the arts. Plato famously observed ‘there is an old quarrel between philosophy and poetry’ (Republic, 607b5‒6), seeking to circum-scribe the role of poets in his ideal state. This essay will focus on East Asia, both in terms of its historical embrace of poetry and contemporary manifestations. Special emphasis will be given to Buddhist poets from China, Korea, and Japan who wield po-etry as a form of upāya or skillful means to evoke, provoke, or document awakening. Buddhist epistemology challenges and dissolves the dualistic preconceptions that assume the existence of an insurmountable divide between ‘self ’ and ‘other,’ inner and outer, human and Nature. This may also yield important insights into why Plato and his followers have been so obsessed with the inherent power of the poet to undermine their vision of philosophy and the task of the philosopher.

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