PHL236H1

Buddhist Philosophy

This course is an introduction to topics, schools, and figures in Buddhist philosophy. Texts to be read (in English translation) will range from the Pāli Canon (attributed directly to the Buddha) via Sanskrit and Tibetan Buddhist schools to contemporary Buddhist reflections. Themes and topics will be selected from those prominent in Buddhist texts: emptiness, impermanence, and non-selfhood; the theory of inference; perception and epistemology; philosophy of language; and philosophy of action. Texts and authors to be studied will standardly include the Pāli Canon, and one or more among Nāgārjuna, Vasubandhu, Dharmakīrti, Milarepa and contemporary Buddhist thinkers.