The Pure Heart: A Medieval Japanese Buddhist Political Theory of Legitimacy

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dc.contributor.advisorBell, Shannon M.
dc.contributor.authorBouthillier, Maxime Marcotte
dc.date.accessioned2023-12-08T14:34:41Z
dc.date.available2023-12-08T14:34:41Z
dc.date.issued2023-12-08
dc.date.updated2023-12-08T14:34:41Z
dc.degree.disciplinePolitical Science
dc.degree.levelDoctoral
dc.degree.namePhD - Doctor of Philosophy
dc.description.abstractDue to narratives stemming from the currently-dominant Eurocentric belief-system, contemporary works on legitimacy generally avoid the inclusion of ‘belief’ as a core analytical tool. However, pioneer of social science studies Max Webber clarified in The Profession and Vocation of Politics (1919) the necessary relationship between beliefs and legitimacy when he demonstrated that structures of authority/power can never be legitimate based only on their existence alone; rather, they find their legitimacy through the belief system which sustains them. This means that to understand catalyzers of political change – even more so the legitimizing of new political dynamics – political theorists need to set aside their Eurocentric assumptions and start engaging with beliefs seriously again. Translating and applying an East-Asian commentary methodology to texts written in the Heian 平安 (794-1185) and Kamakura 鎌倉 (1185-1333) era of Japanese history, this work excavates key beliefs that play a central role in discussions surrounding politics. More specifically, this work focuses on passages found in the works of Buddhist authors, namely Eisai 栄西 (1141-1215), Dōgen 道元 (1200-1253), and Nichiren 日蓮 (1222-1282). Ultimately, the goal of this paper is to systematize these passages into a coherent medieval Japanese Buddhist political theory of legitimacy, while clarifying the core beliefs in which this theory is anchored. This work first establishes that the medieval Japanese Buddhist political theory of legitimacy places at its core beliefs in the heart (kokoro 心), purity (shōjō 淸淨) and karma (gō 業), and proposes political analyses of and solutions to legitimate leadership stemming from such beliefs.
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10315/41683
dc.languageen
dc.rightsAuthor owns copyright, except where explicitly noted. Please contact the author directly with licensing requests.
dc.subjectAsian studies
dc.subjectPolitical Science
dc.subjectReligious history
dc.subject.keywordsBuddhism
dc.subject.keywordsKamakura
dc.subject.keywordsJapan
dc.subject.keywordsDogen
dc.subject.keywordsNichiren
dc.subject.keywordsEisai
dc.subject.keywordsLegitimacy
dc.subject.keywordsPolitical legitimacy
dc.subject.keywordsJapanese Buddhism
dc.subject.keywordsBeliefs
dc.subject.keywordsBeliefs and legitimacy
dc.subject.keywordsLegitimacy and beliefs
dc.subject.keywordsClassical Japanese
dc.subject.keywordsKokoro
dc.subject.keywordsKarma
dc.subject.keywordsLeadership
dc.subject.keywordsPolitical theory
dc.subject.keywordsPolitical thought
dc.subject.keywordsPolitical philosophy
dc.subject.keywordsReligion
dc.subject.keywordsHistory of religion
dc.subject.keywordsReligion and politics
dc.subject.keywordsPolitics and religion
dc.subject.keywordsPolitics and Buddhism
dc.subject.keywordsBuddhism and politics
dc.subject.keywordsAsian studies
dc.subject.keywordsEast-Asian Studies
dc.subject.keywordsJapan studies
dc.subject.keywordsPurity
dc.subject.keywordsHeart
dc.subject.keywordsPure heart
dc.subject.keywordsPurity of heart
dc.subject.keywordsAuthority
dc.subject.keywordsPower
dc.subject.keywordsMax Weber
dc.titleThe Pure Heart: A Medieval Japanese Buddhist Political Theory of Legitimacy
dc.typeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation

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