Buddhism in German Philosophy and Literature

*Free to the public*

Centre for European Studies at Chulalongkorn University
and
Goethe-Institut Bangkok

in cooperation with
Center for Ethics of Science and Technology and Thousand Stars Foundation

organise

International Symposium

“Buddhism in German Philosophy and Literature: An Intercultural Dialogue”

6 – 7 February 2009

Room 105, Maha Chulalongkorn Building, Chulalongkorn University

Programme

Friday 6 February 2009

8.00 – 8.45 Registration

8.45 – 09.15 Asst. Prof. Dr. Charit Tingsabadh, Director of Centre for European Studies atอChulalongkorn University, reports to the President of Chulalongkorn University

Opening Remarks
Prof. Pirom Kamolratanakul, M.D.
President of Chulalongkorn University

Dr. Ulrike Lewark
Deputy Director, Goethe-Institut Bangkok

9.15 – 9.30 Moderator: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Soraj Hongladarom

Dr. Peter Skilling, École française d'Extrême-Orient, Bangkok
Remarks on Philology and Buddhist Studies, with Special Reference to German Philology and Manuscript Studies

9.30 – 10.05 Prof. Dr. Volker Mertens, Free University Berlin, Germany
Buddhism in the European Middle Ages

10.05 – 10.20 Tea and Coffee

10.20 – 10.55 Dr. Ronald Perlwitz, Université Paris Sorbonne Abu Dhabi
Friedrich Rückkert und der Buddhismus

10.55 – 11.05 Questions & Answers

11.05 – 11.40 Prof. Dr. Pornsan Watananguhn
German Section, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
On the Reception of Buddhism in the Literary Work of
Gjellerup, Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse

11.40 – 12.15 Prof. Dr. Heinrich Detering, University Göttingen, Germany
Hesse, Brecht and Thomas Mann: Buddhism and Other Influences

12.15 – 12.30 Discussion

12.30 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 14.35 Moderator: Prof. Dr. Volker Mertens
Prof. Dr. Adrian Hsia, Emeritus Professor of German,
McGill University, Montreal, Canada and Honorary Professor,
School of Chinese Studies, Hong Kong University, China
Catholicism / Protestantism versus Hinduism / Buddhism: On Hesses’s
Transcultural Reception

14.35 – 14.45 Questions & Answers

14.45 – 15.20 Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dieter Borchmeyer, Professor Emeritus, University
Heidelberg, Present position : Präsident der Bayerischen Akademie
der Schönen Künste (President of the Bavaria Academy of the Beautiful Art)
Thomas Manns “Die vertauschten Köpfe“

15.20 – 16.00 Discussion

Saturday 7 February 2008

9.30 – 10.00 Moderator: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Dieter Borchmeyer
Key Note Speech by Prof. Preecha Changkhwanyuen
Professor Emeritus, Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn
University and Chair of Centre for Buddhist Studies, Chulalongkorn University
East-West Divan on Buddhism: An Intercultural Dialogue

10.00 – 10.10 Questions & Answers

10.10 – 10.25 Tea and Coffee

10.25 – 11.00 Prof. Dr. Somparn Promta,
Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
Literature in Buddhist Perspective

11.00 – 11.35 Assoc. Prof. Dr. Soraj Hongladarom
Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University
Schopenhauer's Metaphysics of the Will and the Buddhist View on Emptiness

11.35 – 12.10 Dr. Theptawee Chokvasin, Suranaree University of Technology
Heideggian and Theravada Buddhist View on the Mortality of Life

12.10 – 12.30 Discussion

12.30 – 14.00 Lunch

14.00 – 15.00 Round Table Discussion
Moderator: Dr. Ulrike Lewark
Deputy Director of Goethe-Institut Bangkok
All speakers

15.00 Final Remarks
Dr. Ulrike Lewark
Deputy Director, Goethe-Institut Bangkok
Asst. Prof. Dr. Charit Tingsabadh
Director, Centre for European Studies at Chulalongkorn University