The bounds of freedom
Subtitle: about the Eastern and Western approaches to freedom
By: Oded Balaban & Anan Erev.
Contributors: Erev, Anan.
Series: American university studies.; v. 165
Publisher: P. Lang; Lang Publishing, Incorporated, Peter
Published: 1995
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 186
Subjects: Free will and determinism.; Liberty.; East and West.; Ethics, Comparative.; Philosophy, Comparative.
Description: This book explores Eastern and Western ideas of freedom and reveals the essential differences, as well as similarities, between Eastern and Western cultural values. Inspired by an ancient Greek myth recounted by Protagoras, the authors suggest that three important values tend to motivate human activity: achieving pleasure, achieving results, and obeying moral law.

Then, drawing on intellectual sources ranging from traditional Hinduism to modern existentialism, the authors proceed to show how these values - pleasure, efficiency, and morality - determine the idea of freedom as it appears in various philosophical systems of East and West. In the course of their analysis, the idea of freedom is itself emancipated from the usual kinds of cultural boundaries that have so often limited both its usefulness and its timeliness.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [167]-181) and index.