[4] Volume I

     The first volume in the Global History of Philosophy
series is entitled The Axial Age (Delhi, 1977).  It covers
the period centering around 500 years B.C.E.  The dominant
theme of the Axial Age, as Plott and his colleagues describe
it, is the emergence of systematic philosophy out of
mythological consciousness and the establishment of the
different basic types of philosophical systems in India,
China, and Greece.  Part One discusses from a global
perspective such basic themes for philosophizing as
causation, mind, soul, spirit, self, the elements, matter,
logic and paradoxes, fate, pramanas (means of knowledge),
law, freedom/necessity, salvation, deity, and enlightenment.
Part Two is a comparison of thinking outside of Greece with
that of Plato and Aristotle, especially the latter.
Imaginative readers may in this volume feel that they are
gathered in a meeting under one roof (or cover) with ancient
Buddhists, Jainists, Confucianists, Taoists, as well as
adherents of less famous schools of thought.  Much
attention is given to the development of philosophical
traditions, especially in response to intercultural
influences.

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