Teaching & Learning Guide for: Buddhist Epistemology
This guide accompanies the following article: Buddhist Epistemology: The Study of , Religion Compass 3/4 (2009), pp. 537-548, 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00145.x Author’s Introduction Buddhist epistemology is by no means a new field of study, and yet knowledge of this field is still largely limited to...
| Published in: | Religion compass |
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Wiley-Blackwell
2010
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Religion compass
Year: 2010, Volume: 4, Issue: 1, Pages: 51-54 |
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| Summary: | This guide accompanies the following article: Buddhist Epistemology: The Study of , Religion Compass 3/4 (2009), pp. 537-548, 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00145.x Author’s Introduction Buddhist epistemology is by no means a new field of study, and yet knowledge of this field is still largely limited to a narrow group of specialists. Recent scholarship in Buddhist (and more broadly, Indian) epistemology, however, has (1) improved in quality, (2) broadened in subject matter, and (3) become more accessible to non-specialists. This makes it possible for students and scholars in broader fields of study - in particular, in Christianity and world religions, as well as both analytic and continental philosophy - to learn more about Buddhist theories of knowledge and the impact that these theories have had on the tradition’s broader religious and philosophical views. This guide offers a framework for teaching about Buddhist epistemology in an upper-level undergraduate or graduate environment, in either a philosophy or religious studies course. Annotated Reading List 1 Arnold, Dan. Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief: Epistemology in South Asian Philosophy of Religion. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005. The first section (chapters 1 and 2) of this highly philosophical book is dedicated to detailing Dignāga’s account of epistemology and metaphysics. 2 Dreyfus, Georges. Recognizing Reality: Dharmak?rti’s Philosophy and its Tibetan Interpretations. Albany: SUNY Press, 1997. By far the most complete account of Tibetan epistemology available. This work provides an excellent account of Dharmak?rti’s system of metaphysics and epistemology and shows how his account was adopted/altered by subsequent Tibetan philosophers. 3 Dunne, John. Foundations of Dharmak?rti’s Philosophy. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004. An excellent account of Dharmak?rti’s philosophical system that succeeds in drawing out the historical context of Dharmak?rti’s contributions to Buddhist philosophy. 4 Ganeri, Jonardon. Philosophy in Classical India: the Proper Work of Reason. New York: Routledge Press, 2001. Chapter 4 of this excellent introduction to Indian philosophy deals with the systems of Dignāga and Dharmak?rti. 5 Hattori, Masaaki. Dignāga, On Perception. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968. An annotated translation of Dignāga’s core philosophy text, the 6 Matilal, Bimal Krishna. The Character of Logic in India. Albany: SUNY Press, 1998. This work provides an intelligent account of Dignāga and Dharmak?rti’s theories of inference in chapters 4 and 5. 7 Matilal, Bimal Krishna. Perception: An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of Knowledge. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986. This book is one of the best available works on Indian epistemology. It succeeds in communicating to its audience a sophisticated reading of Indian (including Buddhist) theories of knowledge, while also showing how these theories are related to Western philosophical theories. 8 Tillemans, Tom J. F. Scripture, Logic, Language: Essays on Dharmak?rti and his Tibetan Successors. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1999. A collection of essays by a highly regarded scholar of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. This work is an excellent resource for those interested in Indo-Tibetan logic and epistemology. Online Materials 1. http://www.rep.routledge.com The online Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy contains numerous entries related to Buddhist epistemology. Of note are short articles on the Indian Buddhist thinkers Dignāga and Dharmak?rti, as well as the Tibetan philosopher Sakya . Other entries worth reading are: ‘Epistemology, Indian schools of,’‘Knowledge, Indian views of,’ and ‘Buddhist philosophy, Indian.’ Sample Syllabus 1. Introduction to Indian Epistemology Core Readings: • Georges Dreyfus, Recognizing Reality: Dharmak?rti’s Philosophy and its Tibetan Interpretations. Albany: SUNY Press, 1997, Introduction II and chapter 16. • Jonardon Ganeri, Philosophy in Classical India: the Proper Work of Reason. New York: Routledge Press, 2001, chapter 1. • Jonathan Stoltz, ‘Buddhist Epistemology: The Study of Religion Compass 3/4 (2009): 537-48, 10.1111/j. 1749-8171.2009.00145.x Additional Readings: • Bimal Krishna Matilal, Perception: An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of Knowledge. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986, chapter 4. • Mark Siderits, Buddhism as Philosophy. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 2007, chapter 10. 2. Inference Core Readings: • Georges Dreyfus, Recognizing Reality: Dharmak?rti’s Philosophy and its Tibetan Interpretations. Albany: SUNY Press, 1997, chapter 18. • Bimal Krishna Matilal, The Character of Logic in India. Albany: SUNY Press, 1998, chapters 4 and 5. Additional Readings: • John Dunne, Foundations of Dharmak?rti’s Philosophy. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004, chapter 3. • Richard Hayes, Dignāga on the Interpretation of Signs. Dordrecht: D. Reidel, 1988. • Tom J.F. Tillemans, reproduced in Scripture, Logic, Language: Essays on Dharmak?rti and his Tibetan Successors. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1999, chapter 5. 3. Testimony and Scriptural Inferences Core Readings: • John Dunne, Foundations of Dharmak?rti’s Philosophy. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2004, appendix 4. • Tom J. F. Tillemans, Scripture, Logic, Language: Essays on Dharmak?rti and his Tibetan Successors. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1999, chapter 2. Additional Readings: • Tom J. F. Tillemans, Scripture, Logic, Language: Essays on Dharmak?rti and his Tibetan Successors. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1999, chapters 1 and 3. • Ernst Steinkellner, ‘Tshad ma’i skyes bu: Meaning and Historical Significance of the Term’ in Contributions on Tibetan and Buddhist Religion and Philosophy, Proceedings of the Csoma de Körös Symposium. Vienna: Arbeitskreis für Tibetische und Buddhistische Studien, Universität Wien, 1983. • Richard Hayes. ‘On the Buddha’s Authority: A Translation of the Chapter of Dharmak?rti’s 2004. Retrieved July 22, 2009, from http://www.unm.edu/ rhayes/siddhi.pdf. 4. Perception Core Readings: • Masaaki Hattori, Dignāga, On Perception. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1968, chapter 1. • Georges Dreyfus, Recognizing Reality: Dharmak?rti’s Philosophy and its Tibetan Interpretations. Albany: SUNY Press, 1997, chapters 19-21. Additional Readings: • Georges Dreyfus, Recognizing Reality: Dharmak?rti’s Philosophy and its Tibetan Interpretations. Albany: SUNY Press, 1997, chapters 22-6. • Dan Arnold, Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief: Epistemology in South Asian Philosophy of Religion. New York: Columbia University Press, 2005, chapter 2. • Bimal Krishna Matilal, Perception: An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of Knowledge. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986, chapters 7-10. 5. Epistemological Skepticism Core Readings: • Kamaleswar Bhattacharya, ‘The Dialectical Method of Nāgārjuna.’Journal of Indian Philosophy 1971: 217-61. • Jonardon Ganeri, Philosophy in Classical India: The Proper Work of Reason. New York: Routledge Press, 2001, chapter 2. Additional Readings: • Jay Garfield and Graham Priest, ‘Nāgārjuna and the Limits of Thought’Philosophy East & West 2003: 1-21. • Mark Siderits, ‘The Madhyamaka Critique of Epistemology I’Journal of Indian Philosophy 1980: 307-35. • Mark Siderits, ‘The Madhyamaka Critique of Epistemology II’Journal of Indian Philosophy 1981: 121-160. • Bimal Krishna Matilal, Perception: An Essay on Classical Indian Theories of Knowledge. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986, chapter 2. Focus Questions 1. As discussed by Dreyfus (Introduction II) describe the central elements of the epistemological turn in Indian philosophy, and critically assess the value of this philosophical movement. 2. Elucidate the two different meanings of the term given by the Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools of epistemology, respectively. Which of these two understandings of the term do you find to be most philosophically beneficial, and why? 3. Matilal claims that for Indian (Nyāya) philosophers merely having a truth-hitting cognition is not sufficient for knowledge. Explain how an appeal to is supposed to make for a more adequate account of knowledge? 4. Describe the main differences between the Nyāya and Buddhist accounts of perception. Which account do you think is more philosophically tenable? Why? 5. What is so problematic about the separation between perception and conception for Dharmak?rti, and how does this affect the status of inference as a kind of valid cognition? 6. The Nyāya school claims that testimony is a , whereas Buddhists do not. What are the major differences between these two schools on the epistemological status of testimony and whose account is more tenable? 7. As described by Ganeri (chapter 1), what is the skeptic’s motivation for concluding that inference (i.e., ‘extrapolation’) is not a valid means of knowledge? 8. What role does the example of fire play in Nāgārjuna’s arguments against Are his arguments successful? Why or why not? Seminar Activity Have students think of simple, ordinary examples of knowledge ( ... |
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| ISSN: | 1749-8171 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion compass
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-8171.2009.00181.x |