Readings in Buddhist Philosophy
Fall 1997
The readings in Buddhist philosophy are from early Buddhist dialogues found among the earliest Buddhist writings. This course is concerned with three periods of Buddhist philosophy: the earliest doctrines closely reflecting the teachings of the Buddha; the first elaborations of those doctrines and the defense of Buddhist philosophy against other Indian schools in Early Buddhist Philosophy; and the division of Buddhist philosophy into formally different philosophical schools disputing matters of basic Buddhist doctrines.
The Dialogues of the Buddha
Even though the Buddha left no writings and nothing was written down for centuries following his death, the many texts agree in associating certain doctrines with the Buddha, though there is disagreement as to the exact meaning of some of these doctrines. Shortly after the Buddha's death, the monks gathered in a great assembly and chanted his teachings. The scriptures of the Pali canon, the oldest written form of Buddhist texts, is in a language which was no longer spoken when the text were written down and includes distinctive features of the Magadhi dialect which suggest that great effort was made to preserve exactly the words of the Buddha. India is a country with a long oral tradition where texts of considerable length were often memorized, the most prominent case being the Rigveda, which was preserved in a form of Sanskrit which ceased to be spoken about 1000BC. The earliest texts of Buddhism are called the Three Baskets (pitaka). These are the Sutras, the Vinaya or Rule, and the Abidharmas. Theravada and Mahayana, the two main branches of Buddhism, share the Sutras and Vinaya Baskets, though in different arrangements. The Abidharmas, however, differ completely and are clearly composed in the period of Early Buddhism or later to reflect emerging doctrinal disputes between schools.
The First Sermon and its Background
Early Buddhist Philosophy
Three problems faced early Buddhist thinkers: how to understand certain terms which the Buddha has used, sometimes borrowing from the common vocabulary shared by all Indian thinkers of his period, but sometimes used in a distinctive fashion; how to defend their doctrine from the vigorous attacks of other schools of Buddhist philosophy; and how to explain Buddhist ideas to peoples outside the original North Indian homeland of Buddhism. The Abidharma texts elaborate the meaning of terms and arguments which are to be found in the Dialogues of the Buddha. But elaboration, while providing a defense against alien doctrines, produced with Buddhism serious disagreements as to what various doctrines implied. The problem of explaining Buddhist concepts to people who lived outside the milieu of Indian thinking was severe and challenged the ingenuity of Buddhist thinkers who wanted to be understood while remaining true to the original doctrine. This is illustrated especially well in the case of the Milindapañha in which the Indian sage Nagasena meets Milinda (Menander) the Greek King of Bactria.
Formation of Schools of Buddhist Philosophy
The third phase of Buddhist philosophy is the formation of schools of Buddhist philosophy. We will examine six of these.
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John Knoblock
Department of Philosophy
University of Miami
P.O. Box 248054
Coral Gables, FL 33124Office: Ashe 723D
Messages: (305) 284-4757
Fax: (305) 284-5594
email address: knoblock@umiami.ir.miami.edu
© John Knoblock
Last revised 12/02/04
