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The Birth of Ehiyehlogy: Beyond Buddhist Thought and Ontotheology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Hisao Miyamoto
Hisao Miyamoto*
Affiliation:
Tokyo University
*
Hisao Miyamoto, Tokyo University.
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Abstract

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In this article it is proposed to go beyond ontotheology, which has been seen as the start of totalitarian thought and totalitarianism. In order to do this and find the key to interpretation the author refers to narratology and Hayatology or Ehiyehlogy (a variety of Hebrew ontology). From the nar-ratological viewpoint he analyses and interpretes the following Old Testament texts: Abraham’s story and the narrative of the Exodus under the guidance of Moses.

By means of this narratological analysis the author identifies in these Old Testament texts Hebrew ontological thought, that is, Ehiyehlogy. He therefore sets out some features of the Hebrew being (hayâh and ehyeh) in the following respects:

  1. i. it is an ecstatic becoming and differentiates;

  2. ii. this ecstasy has an intentionality focused on the other;

  3. iii. this intentionality tends towards creation of a community;

  4. iv. intervention by such a being (hayâh or ehyeh) articulates time, the historical kairos;

  5. v. this articulation takes the concrete form of an alliance;

  6. vi. the Hebrew being acts through being incarnate in people (prophets, sages, writers who wrote for Abraham, Moses or others, etc.).

Taken together, these features of the being make up an ontology which has an open identity and is made manifest in the narrative identity that is not monopolistic but polyphonic, that is, in little stories or anonymous, marginal characters, or else people resisting totalitarianism.

This Ehiyehlogy is supported not only by studying the Hebrew text but also by Buddhist inspiration, which emphasizes the relativity aspect rather than the substantial one. Hence, by building up Ehiyehlogy the author looks onto overcoming the totalitarian nature of contemporary civilization and look for the possibility of coexistence.

Type
Articles
Information
Diogenes , Volume 57 , Issue 3: Japanese Philosophy Today , August 2010 , pp. 52 - 65
Copyright
Copyright © ICPHS 2011

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