How Things Are: An Introduction to Buddhist Metaphysics (Buddhist Philosophy for Philosophers)

It is widely known that Buddhists deny the existence of the self. However, Buddhist philosophers defend interesting positions on a variety of other issues in fundamental ontology. In particular, they have important things to say about ontological reduction and the nature of the causal relation. Amidst the prolonged debate over global anti-realism, Buddhist philosophers devised an innovative approach to the radical nominalist denial of all universals and real resemblances. While some defend presentism, others propound eternalism. In How Things Are, Mark Siderits presents the arguments that Buddhist philosophers developed on these and other issues. Those with an interest in metaphysics may find new and interesting insights into what the Buddhists had to say about their ideas.\nThis work is designed to introduce some of the more important fruits of Buddhist metaphysical inquiry to philosophers with little or no prior knowledge of that tradition. While there is plenty of scholarship on the Indian Buddhist philosophical tradition, it is primarily concerned with the historical details, often presupposes background knowledge of the major schools and figures, and makes ample use of untranslated Sanskrit technical terms. What has been missing from this area of philosophical inquiry, are studies that make the Buddhist tradition accessible to philosophers who are interested in solving metaphysical problems. This work fills that gap by focusing not on history and texts but on the metaphysical puzzles themselves, and on ways of trying to solve them.

Politics & Social Sciences

Siderits, Mark

Philosophy

Oxford University Press

It is widely known that Buddhists deny the existence of the self. However, Buddhist philosophers defend interesting positions on a variety of other issues in fundamental ontology. In particular, they have important things to say about ontological reduction and the nature of the causal relation. Amidst the prolonged debate over global anti-realism, Buddhist philosophers devised an innovative approach to the radical nominalist denial of all universals and real resemblances. While some defend presentism, others propound eternalism. In How Things Are, Mark Siderits presents the arguments that Buddhist philosophers developed on these and other issues. Those with an interest in metaphysics may find new and interesting insights into what the Buddhists had to say about their ideas. This work is designed to introduce some of the more important fruits of Buddhist metaphysical inquiry to philosophers with little or no prior knowledge of that tradition. While there is plenty of scholarship on the Indian Buddhist philosophical tradition, it is primarily concerned with the historical details, often presupposes background knowledge of the major schools and figures, and makes ample use of untranslated Sanskrit technical terms. What has been missing from this area of philosophical inquiry, are studies that make the Buddhist tradition accessible to philosophers who are interested in solving metaphysical problems. This work fills that gap by focusing not on history and texts but on the metaphysical puzzles themselves, and on ways of trying to solve them.

This volume brings together nineteen of Mark Siderits's most important essays on Buddhist philosophy. Together they cover a wide range of topics, from metaphysics, logic, philosophy of language, epistemology, and ethics, to the specific discussions of the interaction between Buddhist and classical Indian philosophy. Each of the essays is followed by a postscript that Siderits has written specifically for this volume. The postscripts connect essays of the volume with each other, show thematic interrelations, and locate them relative to the development of Siderits's thought. In addition, they provide the opportunity to bring the discussion of the essays up to date by acquainting the reader with the development of research in the field since the publication of the essays. Siderits's work is based on an investigation of Indian sources in their original language, nevertheless the focus of the essays is primarily systematic, not historical or philological. The idea of 'fusion philosophy' (a term coined by Siderits) embodies precisely the assumption that by bringing a Western and an Eastern tradition together, both can benefit by learning from each other about new ways of tackling old philosophical problems.

Studies in Buddhist Philosophy

What does it mean to be a person? The philosophical problem of personal identity has been the subject of much debate in both Western philosophy and Buddhist philosophy. This book initiates a conversation between the two traditions showing how concepts and tools drawn from one philosophical tradition can help solve problems arising in another, particularly as regards the philosophical investigation of persons. The recent controversy over personal identity has concerned reductionism, the view that persons are mere useful fictions. Mark Siderits explores the most important objections that have been raised to reductionism, and shows how some key arguments and semantic tools from early Buddhism can be used to answer those objections. Buddhist resources are used to examine the important ethical consequences of this view of persons. The second half of the book explores a new objection to reductionism about persons that originates in Mahayana Buddhist philosophy.

Personal Identity and Buddhist Philosophy: Empty Persons (Ashgate World Philosophies Series)

Routledge

Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction (Ashgate World Philosophies Series)

There has been a recent upsurge in interest in Buddhist philosophy, but there is as yet no satisfactory text on the subject. "Buddhism as Philosophy" fills that void. Unlike other texts that serve to introduce Buddhist thought, it is written by a philosopher and it shows how the Buddhist tradition deals with the same sorts of problems that get treated in Western philosophy and employs the same sorts of methods. This book does more than just report what Buddhist philosophers said; it presents the arguments of the Buddhist philosophers, in their own words, and it invites the reader to assess their overall cogency. In short, "Buddhism as Philosophy" investigates the Buddhist tradition by way of the characteristically philosophical concern for finding out the truth about complicated matters in metaphysics, epistemology and ethics.

Buddhism As Philosophy: An Introduction (Ashgate World Philosophies Series)

Religion & Spirituality

Buddhism

Hackett Publishing

There has been a recent upsurge in interest in Buddhist philosophy, but there is as yet no satisfactory text on the subject. Buddhism as Philosophy fills that void. Unlike other texts that serve to introduce Buddhist thought, it is written by a philosopher and it shows how the Buddhist tradition deals with the same sorts of problems that get treated in Western philosophy and employs the same sorts of methods. This book does more than just report what Buddhist philosophers said; it presents the arguments of the Buddhist philosophers, in their own words, and it invites the reader to assess their overall cogency. In short, Buddhism as Philosophy investigates the Buddhist tradition by way of the characteristically philosophical concern for finding out the truth about complicated matters in metaphysics, epistemology and ethics.

What can the philosophy of language learn from the classical Indian philosophical tradition? As recently as twenty or thirty years ago this question simply would not have arisen. If a practitioner of analytic philosophy of language of that time had any view of Indian philosophy at all, it was most likely to be the stereotyped picture of a gaggle of navel gazing mystics making vaguely Bradley-esque pronouncements on the oneness of the one that was one once. Much work has been done in the intervening years to overthrow that stereotype. Thanks to the efforts of such scholars as J. N. Mohanty, B. K. Matilal, and Karl Potter, philoso phers working in the analytic tradition have begun to discover something of the range and the rigor of classical Indian work in epistemolgy and metaphysics. Thus for instance, at least some recent discussions of personal identity reflect an awareness that the Indian Buddhist tradition might prove an important source of insights into the ramifications of a reductionist approach to personal identity. In philosophy of language, though, things have not improved all that much. While the old stereotype may no longer prevail among its practitioners, I suspect that they would not view classical Indian philoso phy as an important source of insights into issues in their field. Nor are they to be faulted for this.

Indian Philosophy of Language: Studies in Selected Issues (Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy, 46)

Literature & Fiction

History & Criticism

Springer

In this clear, concise account, Siderits makes the Buddhist tradition accessible to a Western audience, offering generous selections from the canonical Buddhist texts and providing an engaging, analytical introduction to the basic tenets of Buddhist thought.

Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction

Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

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Books by Siderits, Mark

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Siderits, Mark. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

How Things Are: An Introduction to Buddhist Metaphysics (Buddhist Philosophy for Philosophers)

How Things Are: An Introduction to Buddhist Metaphysics (Buddhist Philosophy for Philosophers)

Studies in Buddhist Philosophy

Personal Identity and Buddhist Philosophy: Empty Persons (Ashgate World Philosophies Series)

Buddhism As Philosophy: An Introduction (Ashgate World Philosophies Series)

Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction (Ashgate World Philosophies Series)

Indian Philosophy of Language: Studies in Selected Issues (Studies in Linguistics and Philosophy, 46)

Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction

Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction

Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction (Ashgate World Philosophies Series)