Introduction

This chapter shows the very real nature of the engagement between the martial arts and philosophy. This does not mean that Karate is philosophy for amateurs, or that Aikido students necessarily have particular philosophical insight. The point is that the martial arts, as exemplary practices or cases studies, have genuine philosophical value. The chapter deals with a wide range of philosophical issues: normative ethics, meta-ethics, aesthetics, phenomenology, the philosophy of mind, Ancient Greek and Buddhist thought. Moreover, there is equally no doubt that the martial arts engage with other important philosophical areas, including: epistemology, the philosophy of language, moral psychology, social and political philosophy, the philosophy of education and the history of ideas-though such topics are largely absent. The chapter presents 'Bowing to your enemies', Damon Young broadens the picture from Buddhism to other Asian systems of thought, by examining the role of courtesy in the modern Japanese martial arts.