Words
A selection of articles, papers and other published works.
Books:
Modern Satanism: Anatomy of a Radical Subculture (Praeger 2009).
Critical study of the modern Satanic religion/ideology, covering ethics, meta-ethics, critical thinking, philosophy of religion.
See the Satanism page for more information.
Academic Papers:
Sokushinbutsu: Esoteric Buddhism and the Ethics of Altruistic Suicide (2008) [pdf]
An ethical analysis of the process of ritual self-mummification, from the perspective of both Buddhist and Western ethical frameworks.
Read at the November 2008 Third International Applied Ethics Conference, Center for Applied Ethics and Philosophy, Graduate School of Letters, Hokkaido University.
General Publications:
Ritual Self-Mummification: The Strange Case of Japan’s Auto-Deities (2007)
The monk undertakes a 3000-day quest that ends with him being buried alive. He limits himself to a diet of buckwheat dough, hazelnuts, and nutmeg for 1000 days, then restricts himself to bark and the roots of pine trees for another 1000-day period, towards the end of which he starts to drink a toxic tea that begins preserving his internal organs. He is then entombed while still alive and left to die. Once exhumed, he has become sokushinbutsu, a living god, and is placed in a shrine to be worshipped. Sound unbelievable? It’s not—though outlawed now, the mummified remains of the Shingon sect’s ascetic monks are still present in small Buddhist temples scattered throughout Japan’s main island …
Living with the Past (2007)
In a dusty field just outside Phnom Penh, a solitary Buddhist monument houses the skulls of 8000 people. Disinterred from mass graves nearby, the bones remain unnamed, for no one is able to identify these anonymous victims of the Khmer Rouge. Welcome to the Killing Fields of Cambodia: testament to tyranny and major tourist attraction …
In Praise of Praise (2007)
“Oh, you can use chopsticks!” It’s a comment that every foreigner in Japan is only too familiar with and it usually provokes a reaction somewhere between mild irritation and outright indignation. This affair has become something of a cliché, both in the frequency of it’s occurrence, and the frequency in which it is commented upon by ex pats. From a Western perspective, this unwarranted and ofttimes effusive praise is perplexing if not condescending …
Cambodia’s Forgotten Coast (2007)
150km south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s Kampot Province features beautiful scenery, two large national parks, and a scattered selection of semi-abandoned colonial towns. Wide dusty highways carve through rice paddies and farmers’ fields that are the origin of the famous Kampot pepper, as well as a variety of fruit, vegetables, herbs and spices. It is a tranquil, as yet largely undeveloped area that slumbers quietly under the remorseless Cambodian sun and occasional transient dust cloud …
Exam Blues (2006)
At a private high school on a wooded hill outside Yokohama, seventeen year-old Sayako has reached the half-way point in most important year of her education. At the end of this year, she will sit the exams that decide which university, if any, she enters, and the direction her subsequent career will follow. Sayako is acutely aware of the significance of the exams and the effect they will have. “I have to do well this year. This year is the most important year of my schooling. It can decide everything for my future”…
The Elephant in the Corner (2006)
The issue of visits to the Yasukuni Shrine and the 14 Class A war criminals enshrined there has continued to dominate and determine regional politics for the past year, yet the leadership of the LDP considers that it has no place in the debate for the forthcoming party leadership election. The LDP consistently downplays the importance of the Yasukuni issue, regardless of it’s continuing negative impact on relations between Japan and its neighbours – primarily China and South Korea. So why do the visits continue, and why are they off the agenda for the leadership debate?…
Current Research:
Chris is currently working on a book-length project related to his Philosophical Misadventures website alongside continued research into Japanese Buddhist mummies.