Soteriological and Ethical Dimensions of Forgetting in Asian Thought

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue responds to recent scholarship in the study of human forgetting, which has only emerged within the past two decades in the wake of the widespread memory studies of the late 20th century. The development of this new study on forgetting not only inspects various forms of passive forgetting and its negative effects on human well-being, but also pays great heed to motivated uses or abuses of forgetting in social/institutional settings. Contrary to this negative use of forgetting, the positive use of forgetting, as Nietzsche noticed long ago, has not drawn enough attention from contemporary scholars (for example, positive forgetting is absent in Ricoeur’s 2004 book on forgetting and in many other’s). In addition, we have seen a few scholarly publications on the Asian practices of forgetting, such as on forgetting in Daoism and early Chinese philosophy, but these current publications have not covered how forgetting plays a unique role in a wide spectrum of Asian religious and philosophical traditions. This issue will focus on the positive and productive aspects of human acts of forgetting, a territory that distinguishes itself from the traditional view of forgetting as something only negative. It will collect scholarly essays that explore how forgetting is practiced voluntarily or cultivated as a virtue, how forgetting is addressed in its therapeutic and ethical dimensions in historical texts by Hindus, Indo-Tibetan, South or East Asian Buddhists, Daoists, Confucians and others, what their similarities and differences are in comparison with each other or with the West, how forgetting serves individual, social or institutional goals, how the positive use of forgetting is different from negative uses of forgetting, how acts of forgetting and memory are interplayed and what their relationships are. We are pleased to invite your contribution to this collection, as we have noticed that you are an expert in one of these traditions or have published in the areas of soteriological, ethical, historical, textual, neuroscientific, psychological or cultural studies of issues in relation to forgetting and memory. The collected essays will base their examination on solid analyses of textual materials and their social/cultural contexts, applying diverse contemporary insights or methods to probe the positive use of forgetting and the underlying connections between forgetting and other human capacities. These include letting go of negative emotions or attachments to failures and pre-conceived plans in order to efficaciously perform one’s tasks required by duty and love, avoiding damages to mental/physical health, and realizing various forms of self-healing, meditative concentration, open-mindedness, unselfishness, empathy, and responsiveness to others. This Special Issue will bring Asian perspectives into contemporary discourse on forgetting and its functions in various ethical and religious practices.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Guest Editor, or to the Assistant Editor of Religions. Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the special issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer review.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Youru Wang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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• Asian religions
• Asian philosophies
• forgetting
• forgetfulness
• memory
• therapy
• ethics
• soteriology