Mindfulness and Letting Be

Fred Dallmayr is Packey J. Dee Professor Emeritus in the departments of Philosophy and Political Science at the University of Notre Dame.

Distancing himself from current psychosocial uses of the term mindfulness, which he reads as too deeply connected to a Cartesian sense of self, Dallmayr carefully outlines a notion of mindfulness that aims to overcome the calculative thinking endemic to the Cartesianism of contemporary times. The book comprises seven chapters and three appendixes. All chapters focus on an aspect of mindfulness; they include 'Mindful Praxis,' 'Mindfulness and Cosmopolis,' and similar chapters on art, history, and language. The project draws on Western thinkers such as Martin Heidegger, Jacques Derrida, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty and explores Eastern contributions through Raimon Panikkar and classical Indian and Chinese thought. In each case, the book elaborates on the practice of letting be. Appendixes are freestanding essays exploring mindfulness and contemporary questions of the role of technology, the relationship between mindfulness theory and praxis, and the contemporary situation of empire building. Dallmayr’s prose is readable and clear. Though Heidegger’s influence is felt throughout the text, Dallmayr’s explanations make it deeply relevant and compelling. Through the author's inspiring description of an active 'letting be,' readers will gain insight into a way out of the mindlessness of contemporary society. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through researchers/faculty.

• Chapter 1. "The Future of Theory": Mindful ThinkingChapter 2. Beyond "Action Theory": Mindful Praxis Chapter 3. Nothingness, Non-Being, Emptiness: Thinking at the Edge of ThoughtChapter 4. But Only Speak the Word: Mindfulness and LanguageChapter 5. Naturing Nature: Mindfulness and ArtChapter 6. The Future of the Past: Mindfulness and HistoryChapter 7. Why Cross-cultural Studies Now?: Mindfulness and CosmopolisAppendix A. Are Humans Becoming Superfluous?: Robots and GestellAppendix B. For an Apophatic Humanism: OrthopraxisAppendix C. Empire and Mindfulness: Theocracy as Temptation