pacifism
an alternative to presence and absence. In other words, one’s relation to
the other makes the other possible and also impossible as presence, same-
ness, and assumed essence. This relation exceeds and overflows the pres-
ent moment in the sense that the initial moment makes the other return to
the same, whereas the second moment is no longer and never has been a
present same. For Derrida, the other disturbs and shows the system of the
same, and it forces it to become open to a difference that it did not antic-
ipate. Thus the encounter with the other is neither a representation, nor a
limitation, nor a conceptual relation.
Hindu and Buddhist thinkers present a very different view of the other
in comparison to these selected postmodern scholars. In the Advaita
Vedānta school, the Indian philosopher Śankara views the other as identi-
cal to the self from the standpoint of higher knowledge. In contrast to the
postmodern thinkers, Śankara views the self as unrelated and relations as
a hindrance to true selfhood. From the perspective of higher knowledge
for Śankara, there is no other because the other is really not different than
oneself.
Another non-dualistic position is offered by the Zen master Dōgen,
who uses the term dōji to indicate that there is difference between the self
and others. To truly practice dōji means that a person exists in harmony
and unity with oneself and others. This virtue is grounded on the convic-
tion that all things are interrelated. Both the self and other represent a
complex web of relationships. Dōgen agrees with the postmodern think-
ers that the relationality between the self and others is a reciprocal and
horizontal type of relationship that stands opposed to hierarchical or
vertical relations.
Further reading: Derrida (1976); Dōgen (2007); Levinas (1998); Śankara
(1968)
PACIFISM
This concept reflects a conscious, willful, determined opposition to any
violence or force to settle disputes. Based on strong moral principles or
pragmatic concerns, pacifism advocates non-resistance and/or non-
violence. Practitioners of pacifism with a religious foundation extend
over the entire globe, and include figures such as the Buddha, Mahāvīra
of Jainism, Jesus according to some interpreters, Daoist thinkers, Dorothy
Day of the Catholic Worker Movement, Tolstoy, Gandhi, Martin Luther