Blackwell UK
Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief
Epistemology in South Asian Philosophy of Religion
ISBN: 9780231132800
Format: Hardback
Publisher: University Presses of California, Columbia and Princeton
Examines how the Brahmanical tradition of Purva Mimamsa and the writings of the seventh-century Buddhist Madhyamika philosopher Candrakirti challenged dominant Indian Buddhist views of epistemology. This book retrieves these two different but equally important voices of philosophical dissent. More
Reviews:
"Arnold's book is impressive on many levels. It is a brilliant study of several key figures in the history of medieval Indian thought. It is also a thought-provoking and intelligent exploration of contemporary issues in epistemology and philosophy of religion that makes the potential audience of the book much wider than the relatively small circle of those of who delight themselves by picking their way through the briar patches of difficult Sanskrit and Tibetan texts. Finally… More
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In Buddhists, Brahmins, and Belief, Dan Arnold examines how the Brahmanical tradition of Purva Mimamsa and the writings of the seventh-century Buddhist Madhyamika philosopher Candrakirti challenged dominant Indian Buddhist views of epistemology. Arnold retrieves these two very different but equally important voices of philosophical dissent, showing them to have developed highly sophisticated and cogent critiques of influential Buddhist epistemologists such as Dignaga and Dharmakirti. His analysis -- developed in conversation with modern Western philosophers like William Alston and J. L. Austin -- offers an innovative reinterpretation of the Indian philosophical tradition, while suggesting that pre-modern Indian thinkers have much to contribute to contemporary philosophical debates.In logically distinct ways, Purva Mimamsa and Candrakirti's Madhyamaka opposed the influential Buddhist school of thought that emphasized the foundational character of perception. Arnold argues that Mimamsaka arguments concerning the "intrinsic validity" of the earliest Vedic scriptures are best understood as a critique of the tradition of Buddhist philosophy stemming from Dignaga. Though often dismissed as antithetical to "real philosophy," Mimamsaka thought has affinities with the reformed epistemology that has recently influenced contemporary philosophy of religion.Candrakirti's arguments, in contrast, amount to a principled refusal of epistemology. Arnold contends that Candrakirti marshals against Buddhist foundationalism an approach that resembles twentieth-century ordinary language philosophy -- and does so by employing what are finally best understood as transcendental arguments. The conclusion that Candrakirti's arguments thus support a metaphysical claim represents a bold new understanding of Madhyamaka.
