Corso di laurea magistrale in
Lingue dell'Asia e dell'Africa
per la comunicazione e la cooperazione internazionale

Part held by Alberto Pelissero (6 hours) will concern South Asian, specifically Indian, philosophical and religious context. Part held by Matteo Cestari (30 hrs.) will deal with the problem of practices in East Asian Thought, with a look at the general problem of practice in many contemporary thinkers.

- KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING: the students will understand essential aspects of the religious and philosophical question of practices in the cultural history of Indian, Buddhist and East-Asian thought.-

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING, MAKING JUDGEMENTS, COMMUNICATION SKILLS: the students will understand the essential aspects of the doctrines explained. Moreover, they will be able to present the content of the lectures and make autonomous judgements on the subjects explained during the lectures and will familiarize with specific bibliographical tools (handbooks, essays, reference works).

Part held by Alberto Pelissero (6 hours): class lectures (subsidiary materials on Moodle). 

The lectures by Matteo Cestari will be developed in experimental blended modality (both synchronous and asynchronous).

Synchronous lectures (in classroom): in-classroom lectures will be provided (without recording). During these lectures, there will be seminars, discussions, and presentation of additional material related to the asynchronous, online lectures.

Asynchronous lectures (online, on Moodle): Some lectures will be uploaded on the Moodle platform. The proportion between synchronous and asynchronous lectures will presumably be two in-classroom lectures and one online, Moodle lecture per week.

Generally speaking, the asynchronous, online material should be studied by students before the synchronous lectures, in which all the material provided will be deepened, applied, discussed and interpreted, according to the methodology of the flipped classroom. In addition, some group works on Moodle will be organized in order to be recognized as parts of the final exam.

Learning will be tested through an oral examination in English. During the exam, three subjects will be discussed. The first of them will be chosen by the student; the other two will be asked by the examiners.- Each subject would be tested through various questions whose aim is to understand the level of comprehension reached by the student.- The examination grade will be ranged between 18/30 (minimum) to 30 cum laude/30 (maximum). -Moreover, the participation of the students to the Moodle forums can be counted as one subject of the exam, following the indications that will be given in the Moodle page of the course.

Compulsory material (Bibliography and Moodle)

All the material is compulsory for all the students of the module, both attending and non-attending.

Please, refer to the Moodle page of the course in order to get the updates of the general plan of the course, the asynchronous lectures and material.

You should be aware that the lecturer may verify whether the students have actually had access to the material uploaded on the Moodle.

You should be aware that the lecturers can in any time access to the student's effective activities on the Moodle and therefore realize whether it is possible to admit a student or not.

An introduction to Asian Thought.

Appointed lecturers: Alberto Pelissero (Supervisor, L-OR/18) and Matteo Cestari (L-OR/20).

Alberto Pelissero’s lectures (6 hours) will give a general outline of Indian religious and philosophies as well as of literary sources regarding several kind of practices.

In cooperation with Carlotta Moiso under the supervision of Alberto Pelissero. After a general overview of some relevant online sources and digital corpora in the field of Asian Philosophy, the lectures will introduce to the complexity of ideas concerning “practice” and “body” in the Indian religious and philosophical context.

Matteo Cestari’s lectures (30 hours) will deal with meditative practiced in Buddhism and individuating practices in Daoism, from the perspective of religious studies and philosophy. Particular theoretical importance will be given to the ideas on practices by Michel Foucault, Pierre Hadot, Pierre Bourdieu and Nishida Kitarō. Moreover, the question of technology will be discussed in relation to the problem of practice and the body..

1) Technologies of the self and spirituality in Michel Foucault and Pierre Hadot:

Readings: M. Foucault, “Technologies of the Self”, in L. Martin, H. Gutman, P. Hutton (Eds.) Technologies of the Self. A Seminar with Michel Foucault, Amherst, Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1988, pp. 16-49.

A. Davidson, “Introduction. Pierre Hadot and the Spiritual Phenomenon of Ancient Philosophy”, in P. Hadot, Philosophy as a Way of Life, Blackwell, Oxford & Cambridge, 1995, pp. 1-45.

2) Biopolitics (M. Foucault)

Readings: R. Esposito, Bios. Biopolitics and Philosophy, Minneapolis and London, Univ. of Minnesota Press, 2008 (pp. 3-44).

3) Nishida Kitarō’s practical philosophy: poiesis and praxis

Readings: M. Cestari, “From Seeing to Acting. Rethinking Nishida Kitarō’s Practical Philosophy”, in James W. Heisig & Raquel Bouso (eds.), Frontiers of Japanese Philosophy 6. Confluences and Cross-Currents, Nagoya: Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, 2009, pp. 273-296.

4) Nihilism and Practices in Modern Japan

Readings: M. Cestari, “Nihilistic Practices of the Self: General Remarks on Nihilism and Subjectivity in Modern Japan”, in P. Calvetti, M. Mariotti (Eds.), Contemporary Japan. Challenges for a World Economic Power in Transition, Venezia, Edizioni Ca’ Foscari, 2015, pp. 141-157.

5) A general approach to East Asian religions/philosophies, which will help to understand the place of practices in Buddhism and Daoism.

Readings: Adam Y. Chau, Religion in China. Ties that Bind, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2019 (introduction & chap. 1, pp. 1-33).

6) Modern “traditional” practices as invented traditions and self-orientalism; practices of strengthening national identities and constructing connected individualities

Readings: Yamada Shoji, “The Myth of Zen in the Art of Archery”, Japanese Journal of Religious Studies, 2001, 28, 1-2, pp. 1-30.

S. Vlastos, “Tradition: Past/Present Culture and Modern Japanese History”; D. Chakrabarty, “Afterword: Revisiting the Tradition/Modernity Binary”, in S. Vlastos (Ed.), Mirror of Modernity. Invented Traditions of Modern Japan, Berkeley-Los Angeles-London, University of California Press, 1998, pp. 1-17; 285-296.

7) On Mahayana Buddhism: Buddhism as theory or practice? Fundamental aspects of Buddhism and the critical question of Mahayana.

Readings: R. Gethin, The Foundations of Buddhism, Oxford UP, 1998, pp. 224-252.

D. Lopez, “Introduction”, in D. Lopez (ed.), Curators of the Buddha. The Study of Buddhism Under Colonialism, Univ. of Chicago Press, 1998, pp. 1-29.

8) Practices in Kamakura Buddhism: The case of Japanese Buddhism in Kamakura period (1185-1333) as clue of modernist influences in the Japanese religious history.

Readings: J. H. Foard, “What One Kamakura Story Does: Practice, Place and Text in the Account of Ippen at Kumano”, in R. Payne (ed.), Re-Visioning “Kamakura” Buddhism, Univ. of Hawai’i Press, 1998, pp. 101-115.

Further bibliographical instructions will be provided during the lectures. Please, consult the Moodle page ofthe course for further updates.

1. Alberto Pelissero: subsidiary materials on Moodle