文档介绍：The Perfectibility of Human Nature
in Eastern and Western Thought
SUNY series in Religious Studies
Harold Coward, editor
The Perfectibility of Human Nature
in Eastern and Western Thought
Harold Coward
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS
Published by
State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2008 State University of New York
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Coward, Harold G.
The perfectibility of human nature in eastern and western thought /
Harold Coward.
p. cm. —(SUNY series in religious studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7914-7335-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-7914-7336-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Perfection. 2. Perfection—Religious aspects. 3. Philosophical
anthropology. I. Title.
2007
128—dc22 2007016826
**********
To my granddaughter, Annie,
who stood at my elbow
watching me write this book
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1. Introduction 1
Part I. The Perfectibility of Human Nature
in Western Thought
2. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Western
Philosophy and Psychology 9
3. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Jewish Thought 29
4. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Christian Thought 55
5. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Islamic Thought 81
Part II. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Eastern Thought
(arising in India)
6. The Perfectibility of Human Nature in Indian Philosophy
and