Fractured Selves & (En)Folded Perspectives A History of Ideas Tracing the Doctrines of Not-Self and Emptiness in Indian Buddhist Thought

Date of Award

2003

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Newman, John

Keywords

Not-Self, Emptiness, Buddhism, Philosophy, East-West Comparison

Area of Concentration

Religion

Abstract

This thesis is focused on three main tasks. First and foremost, we will trace the development of the doctrine of not-self in the ideas and practices of the Buddhist tradition. We will argue that this doctrine plays the central role in how they deal with the problems presented by self identity. Second, we will discuss whether any 'continuity of thought' can be traced between the ideas of the early Buddhist texts in the Nikayas and the later ideas of the Madhyamika. For both of these traditions we shall examine how the not-self doctrine is capable of prompting the realization that our view of and attitude towards the illusory and automatic sense of 'I' that accompanies experience is the root cause of all our suffering. Furthermore, in the shift from the Nikaya to the Madhyamika period we will focus on the equation of the notself doctrine with the concept of emptiness, and the extension of the latter to all sentient beings, and insentient things. We will pursue this discussion in terms of both a 'nonessential' historical continuity and as the appropriation of 'means' from one tradition to the next. Third, and finally, we will examine our findings within the context of Western culture, attempting to suggest some possible ramifications and extensions of the continuity argument contained herein, attempting to anticipate some of the extensions of this project in examining Western appropriations of Buddhist thought, and its potential connections with means-oriented Western philosophy.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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