Events
GXI Seminars
FY2023 2nd GXI Seminar "Kukai in the Wild: Why was a Buddhist Monk a Civil Engineer?"
Opening Hours
Location
Outline of the Event
Kukai, a Buddhist monk in the early Heian period, was not only the founder of the Shingon sect of Buddhism, but also a civil engineer who directed the renovation of Mannoike Pond. Why is a Buddhist monk deeply involved in the foundation of Japanese civil engineering history? Why was Kukai able to lead a difficult construction project to success? A clue can be found in the philosophy of Levi Strauss, a cultural anthropologist who advocated structuralism. His masterpiece, "Wild Thoughts," presents a horizon where the structure of knowledge of "uncivilized societies," which differs from modern rationalism, and cutting-edge science meet. In today's "Anthropocene," we would like to consider the techniques of knowledge that allow us humans to relate to nature through Kukai's "Esoteric Buddhism.
| Instructor: | Prof. Takeshi NAKAJIMA |
| Affiliation: | Institute for Liberal Arts, Tokyo Institute of Technology |
| Date and time: | Monday, May 29, 2023 16:00-17:20 |
| Location: | North Bldg. 1, 1st floor conference room + Zoom |
| Presentation language: | Japanese (language) |
Contact us
We sincerely welcome your participation in IGAX.
GXI Program Office
Phone : 03-5734-3284
e-mail : office@gxi.iir.titech.ac.jp
