Steven M. Emmanuel
Professor of Philosophy and Environmental Studies
Virginia Wesleyan University
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5817 Wesleyan Drive 23455 | (757) 455-3405
Philosophy's Big Questions: Comparing Buddhist and Western Approaches (Columbia University Press, 2021)
Nominated for the Toshihide Numata Book Award in Buddhism
Certain questions have recurred throughout the history of philosophy. They are the big questions—about knowledge and reality, the nature of consciousness, the pervasiveness of suffering, and the conditions for human flourishing—that thinkers in different cultures across the ages have formulated in an attempt to make sense of their lives and the world around them.
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The essays in this book turn to the major figures and texts of the Buddhist tradition in order to expand and enrich our thinking on these enduring questions. Examining them from a comparative and cross-cultural perspective demonstrates the value of alternative ways of addressing philosophical problems, showing how different approaches can produce new and unexpected kinds of questions and answers. Engaging with the Buddhist tradition, this book shows, helps return philosophy to its practical as well as theoretical aim: not only understanding the world but also knowing how to live in it.
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Featuring striking and generative comparisons of Buddhist and Western thought, Philosophy’s Big Questions challenges our thinking in fundamental ways and offers readers new conceptual tools, methods, and insights for the pursuit of a good and happy life.
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From the Back Cover:
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For teachers looking to broaden the canon, Steven M. Emmanuel’s Philosophy’s Big Questions provides an excellent, accessible, intercultural introduction to philosophy. Topically arranged, each chapter fully integrates, without assimilating, Western and Buddhist sources.
—David Cummiskey
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From foundational topics in metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics to more focused philosophical issues pertaining to mind, religion, and morality, these essays insightfully explore important questions of perennial concern in Western as well as Buddhist traditions.
—Christopher W. Gowans
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This book redefines comparative philosophy for the undergraduate classroom by providing a fresh exploration of the perennial questions of philosophy in light of the contributions Buddhism can make to these conversations. The eight thematic essays—expertly crafted by foremost scholars—offer a broad and accessible introduction to philosophy that easily puts to rest any doubts about the value of comparative philosophy.
—John J. Holder
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Our big questions are above all human questions about the things that matter most—happiness, relationships, fairness, or the mystery of mind. This brilliant volume breaks new ground in placing the creativity of time-honored Buddhist thinkers in conversation with, but not secondary to, Western-formulated questions on free will, evil, or the power of compassion. Each chapter expands the territory over
which our own reflections can roam. I can’t wait to share this profoundly relevant work with colleagues, students, and friends, and to reflect on it myself amid the plentiful conundrums of daily life.
—Anne Carolyn Klein
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This is a wonderful book that would be a great text for a course on cross-cultural philosophy. The articles are all well-written and do an outstanding job of identifying ‘big questions’ that have concerned Asian and Western philosophers. The approaches and responses to these questions are distant enough to provide genuine space for dialogue, and close enough that each can learn from the other. This is just the kind of book we need to move forward with truly global philosophy.
—John Powers
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Smithsonian Associates Lectures
Recent and Upcoming Talks
Courses
Professional Resume
Higher Education
Ph.D. in Philosophy, Brown University
A.M. in Philosophy, Brown University
B.A. in Philosophy cum laude, Boston University
Areas of Teaching and Research
Global and Comparative Philosophy
Applied Ethics
Logic/Critical Reasoning
Environmental Studies
Major Fellowships and Grants
Council of Independent Colleges Grant to Support Philosophy Programming (2021)
Council of Independent Colleges Faculty Institute on “New Currents in Teaching Philosophy” (2021)
ASIANetwork/Freeman Student-Faculty Fellowship – Research in China (2016)
Luce Asian Art Consultancy Grant – Research in Japan (2014)
ASIANetwork/Mellon Foundation Faculty Enhancement Program: Research in India (2011)
Biosophical Society Grant (2011)
American Council of Learned Societies Grant – Research in Vietnam (2008)
ASIANetwork/Freeman Student-Faculty Fellowship – Research in Vietnam (2007)
NEH Institute (2004): Philosophy, Science & Theology in the 17th Century
AT&T Technology Grant (2000)
Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges Technology Grants (1999-2001)
American Philosophical Society, Research Grant (1997)
Mednick Memorial Fellowship (1997)
Virginia Foundation for the Humanities & Public Policy, Affiliate Fellow (1996)
National Endowment for the Humanities, Summer Stipend (1993)
Notre Dame Center for Philosophy of Religion, Fellowship (1989-90, declined)
Fulbright Summer Research Grant, University of Copenhagen (1986)
Henriksen Foundation Grant for Doctoral Research in Denmark (1986)
Fulbright Fellowship, University of Copenhagen (1985-86)
Selected Awards
Distinguished International Leadership Award, Dai Nippon Butoku Kai, Japan (2023)
Sigma Beta Delta – The International Honor Society for Business (2022)
Outstanding Faculty Award: State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (2018)
Omicron Delta Kappa – The National Leadership Honor Society (2018)
Frank and Jane P. Batten Distinguished Scholar Award (2016)
Alpha Sigma Lambda - Honorary member (2009)
Sara Rose Award for Leadership in Service Learning (2009)
Martin Luther King Jr. Peace & Justice Award (2008)
Batten Professor of Philosophy, Virginia Wesleyan University (2004-2007)
The Samuel Nelson Gray Distinguished Teaching Award (1994)
Notable Award Nominations
Nominated for the Toshihide Numata Book Award in Buddhism, Center for Buddhist Studies at Berkeley
Harris Memorial Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (2015, 2016)
Batten Distinguished Scholar Award (2005, 2013, 2015)
Publications: Books
Philosophy
Editor, Philosophy's Big Questions: Comparing Buddhist and Western Approaches (Columbia University Press, 2021)
Editor, Buddhist Philosophy: A Comparative Approach (Wiley-Blackwell, 2018)
Co-editor (with William McDonald & Jon Stewart), Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome VI: Salvation to Writing (Ashgate, 2015)
Co-editor (with McDonald and Stewart), Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome V: Objectivity to Sacrifice (Ashgate, 2015)
Co-editor (with McDonald and Stewart), Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome IV: Individual to Novel (Ashgate, 2014)
Co-editor (with McDonald and Stewart), Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome III: Envy to Incognito (Ashgate, 2014)
Co-editor (with McDonald and Stewart), Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome II: Classicism to Enthusiasm (Ashgate, 2014)
Co-editor (with McDonald and Stewart), Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome I: Absolute to Church (Ashgate, 2013)
Editor, A Companion to Buddhist Philosophy (Wiley-Blackwell, 2013)
Co-editor (with Patrick Goold), Modern Philosophy: An Anthology (Blackwell, 2002)
Editor, The Modern Philosophers: From Descartes to Nietzsche (Blackwell, 2001)
Kierkegaard and the Concept of Revelation (SUNY Press, 1996)
Popular Culture
Co-editor (with Kathy Merlock-Jackson), Revisiting Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: Essays on Lessons About Self and Community (McFarland Publishers, 2016)
Publications: Articles and Book Chapters
Philosophy
“Greed, Prosperity, and the Economic Problem of Happiness: A Comparative View,” in Philosophy’s Big Questions: Comparing Buddhist and Western Approaches (Columbia University Press, 2021)
“Punctuation,” in Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome V: Objectivity to Sacrifice (Ashgate, 2015)
“Melancholy,” in Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome IV: Individual to Novel (Ashgate, 2014)
“Genius,” in Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome III: Envy to Incognito (Ashgate, 2014)
“Concrete/Abstract” in Kierkegaard’s Concepts: Tome II: Classicism to Enthusiasm (Ashgate, 2014).
“Absolute,” in Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome I: Absolute to Church (Ashgate, 2013)
“Actuality/Ideality,” in Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome I: Absolute to Church (Ashgate, 2013)
“Apostle,” in Kierkegaard’s Concepts, Tome I: Absolute to Church (Ashgate, 2013)
“Buddhism: Contemporary Expressions,” a chapter essay on socially engaged Buddhism in A Companion to Religion and Social Justice (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012)
“Engaged Learning and Filmmaking by Way of Vietnam,” in ASIANetwork Exchange: A Journal for Asian Studies in the Liberal Arts 17.2 (2010): 83-90
“Philosophy,” in the Dictionary of Existentialism (Greenwood, 1999)
“Kierkegaard,” in the Encyclopedia of Philosophy Supplement (MacMillan, 1997)
“Recent Literature on Kierkegaard,” Religious Studies Review 20 (1994): 286-291
“Reading Kierkegaard,” Philosophy Today 36 (1992): 240-255
“Kierkegaard on Knowledge and Faith,” Kierkegaardiana 15 (1992): 136-146
“Kierkegaard’s Pragmatist Faith,” Philosophy & Phenomenological Research (1991): 279-302
“Kierkegaard on Doctrine,” Religious Studies 25 (1989): 363-378
Popular Culture
“The Presence of Mister Rogers,” in Revisiting Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood: Essays on Lessons About Self and Community, ed. by Kathy Merlock-Jackson and Steven M. Emmanuel (McFarland Publishers, 2016): 88-104
Anthologized Articles
“Reading Kierkegaard,” in Søren Kierkegaard: Critical Assessments of Leading Philosophers, ed. by Daniel W. Conway (Routledge, 2002):
51-70
“Interpreting Kierkegaard,” in Sex, Love, and Friendship, ed. by Alan Soble and Barbara Kirshner (Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi, 1997)
“Kierkegaard on Doctrine” was included in a Japanese anthology entitled Kierkegaard, ed. by Kinya Masugata (Kyoto: Showado Co., Ltd., 1993)
Videography
Making Peace with Viet Nam (2008). Documentary, 87 minutes
Best Long Documentary, Beijing International Film Festival (2009)
Audience Award, Red Rock Film Festival (2009)
Merit Award, The Buddhist Film Festival, Sri Lanka (2009)
Official Selection: East Carolina Film Festival (2009)
National Broadcast on Viet Nam Television (April 2009)
Official Selection: NEWFILMMAKERS NY (April 2010)
Religion Serving Humanity (2010). Short, 3 minutes (created for the Pluralism Project at Harvard University)
Living in the Pure Land (2012). Documentary, 51 minutes. Looks the challenges experienced by a group of Vietnamese Pure Land Buddhists as they attempt to establish a temple in the rural Virginia community of Pungo.
Professional Memberships
American Philosophical Association
American Academy of Religion
ASIANetwork
International Kierkegaard Society
Other Professional Affiliations
Board of Directors, Wetlands Watch
Board of Directors, JECC - Japan Education and Culture Center
Editorial Board, Green Humanities: A Journal of Ecological Thought in Literature, Philosophy & the Arts (2013-present)
Editorial Board, ASIANetwork Exchange: A Journal for Asian Studies in the
Liberal Arts (2012-present)
Teaching Affiliate, The Pluralism Project at Harvard University (Project page)
Current Administrative Positions
Dean, Susan S. Goode School of Arts and Humanities (2020-present)
Statewide Coordinator, Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges Ethics Bowl (2005-present)
Past Administrative Positions
Board of Directors, ASIANetwork (2012-2016), Board Chair (2014-2015)
Director of First Year Seminar, Virginia Wesleyan University (2003-2005)
Chair of the Humanities Division, Virginia Wesleyan University (1999-2002)
Chair of the Philosophy Department, Virginia Wesleyan University (1997-2014 interdum)
Previous Academic Appointments
1991-92 Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Kenyon College
1990-91 Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Grinnell College
1989-90 Lecturer, University of Copenhagen
1987-89 Visiting Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of California, Riverside
A Passion for Martial Arts
My interest in martial arts began at an early age. Over the years, I've had formal training in most of the traditional forms of Japanese Budo, but I specialize in four: Karatedo, Kobudo, Okinawan Kobudo/Kobujutsu, and Iaido. I'm a certified member of Dai Nippon Butoku Kai (Greater Japan Martial Virtue Society) and the head instructor of Bushin Kan Iaido, a fully accredited dojo dedicated to training in the art of the sword.
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Students interested in exploring the martial arts will find several opportunities on campus. If you want to bring out your inner samurai, there is Bushin Kan Iaido. If basic self-defense is what you need, you can enroll in PE 130: Martial Arts. If you like anime, martial arts films, or just want to share your own martial arts experience with others, then check out the VWU Martial Arts Club. To get more information about any of these opportunities, you can reach me with just one click.