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Paper short abstract:

This proposal discusses different Japanese notions that refer to the ephemeral from its aesthetic point of view. The aim is to recognize in the ephemeral a necessary source for individual and social consciousness, which implies an ethical understanding.

Paper long abstract:

This proposal develops an analysis of different Japanese notions that refer to the ephemeral from the Japanese aesthetics point of view. The aim is to recognize in the ephemeral a necessary source for consciousness, which implies understanding it from an ethical context that motivates moral reflection both of human temporality and its link with space, objects, and moments. Since the relationship between aesthetics and ethics is much clearer for Japanese philosophy than for European philosophy, the principles of transience and non-duality justify that the somatic and the emotional, as exercises of consciousness, prevail over intellect and reason. In this sense, this paper argues that the practical dimension of literature and the sacredness of the mundane can be two possible strategies to help us to understand and re-signify the ephemeral from other contexts. For this purpose, it is first necessary to comprehend the meaning of the notions wabi, sabi, yūgen, mu, mujō, mono no aware, and ma. Through practical examples, I will demonstrate how they all manage to offer an integral perspective between being, time, space, body, and mind. Therefore, the ephemeral makes possible to avoid negative estrangement from ordinary life, in the sense that it recognizes the aesthetic value in the most apparently insignificant objects of everyday life. Thus, the value of the ephemeral gives meaning to the practical dimension and, at the same time, realizes the moral responsibility of social acting.