Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: A Philosophical Introduction
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- Create Date：2021-07-02 08:53:58
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Jan Westerhoff
- ISBN：0195384962
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Summary
The Indian philosopher Acharya Nagarjuna （c。 150-250 CE） was the founder of the Madhyamaka （Middle Path） school of Mahayana Buddhism and arguably the most influential Buddhist thinker after Buddha himself。 Indeed， in the Tibetan and East Asian traditions， Nagarjuna is often referred to as the 'second Buddha。' His primary contribution to Buddhist thought lies is in the further development of the concept of sunyata or 'emptiness。' For Nagarjuna， all phenomena are without any svabhaba， literally 'own-nature' or 'self-nature'， and thus without any underlying essence。 In this book， Jan Westerhoff offers a systematic account of Nagarjuna's philosophical position。 He reads Nagarjuna in his own philosophical context， but he does not hesitate to show that the issues of Indian and Tibetan Buddhist philosophy have at least family resemblances to issues in European philosophy。
Reviews
Nima Tserung
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Good
Paul Kerschen
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Clear and fair， as you want your philosophers to be。
Revanth Ukkalam
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The book is more than an 'introduction' but whether that is the due to the object in question or the author is unclear。 The ideas - which I am as far as one can get in mastering - presented by Westerhoff and imagined by Acharya Nagarjuna are overwhelmingly impressive。 If imbibed wholly the world will perhaps never seem the same again。 The negation of Svabhava， Nagarjuna's philosophical project is strikingly original and creative。 One finds it backed by rigorous thought and robust rationality。 Th The book is more than an 'introduction' but whether that is the due to the object in question or the author is unclear。 The ideas - which I am as far as one can get in mastering - presented by Westerhoff and imagined by Acharya Nagarjuna are overwhelmingly impressive。 If imbibed wholly the world will perhaps never seem the same again。 The negation of Svabhava， Nagarjuna's philosophical project is strikingly original and creative。 One finds it backed by rigorous thought and robust rationality。 The book despite its complexity leaves one hungry for more on， around， and from Nagarjuna and the Madhyamikas。 。。。more
ἀρχαῖος （arkhaîos） In Lockdown
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As is the case with Jay Garfield and Mark Siderits， author Jan Westerhoff writes to bring Madhayana Buddhist philosophy to readers who have an interest in Western philosophy also。 This is an excellent example of these writings。 Westerhoff covers a wide range of Nāgārjuna’s philosophy， ranging from Nāgārjuna’s main preoccupations through to topics barely touched upon in his works but which have a natural connection for Western philosophers。 A great deal is covered in this relatively short book。 I As is the case with Jay Garfield and Mark Siderits， author Jan Westerhoff writes to bring Madhayana Buddhist philosophy to readers who have an interest in Western philosophy also。 This is an excellent example of these writings。 Westerhoff covers a wide range of Nāgārjuna’s philosophy， ranging from Nāgārjuna’s main preoccupations through to topics barely touched upon in his works but which have a natural connection for Western philosophers。 A great deal is covered in this relatively short book。 I struggled at times with some of the topics， but I must put that down to my own abilities。 Westerhoff writes clearly often dealing with the topic from various aspects so as to give the readers every possible opportunity to understand。 Highly recommended for anyone looking for a clear explanation of Nāgārjuna’s philosophy without getting confounded by Buddhist religious terminology。For myself， there is much here that attracts me， not only as a theoretical philosophy but as a way of understanding the world as I live in it， as a way of life。 Of course， this is not easy to achieve。 I am alone in this endeavour， particularly as I accept none of the transcendent trappings of Buddhism， or of any other religion or philosophy。 Practice without belief will simply not work as long as the practice is framed in a language of myth。 。。。more
Kalsang
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 I want to read
Ellison
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Worth the read but Westerhoff's style is very academic and too full of effort。 When trying to nail a concept down he often seemed to be beating it to death。 The beginning and the ends of chapters were always the best。 Worth the read but Westerhoff's style is very academic and too full of effort。 When trying to nail a concept down he often seemed to be beating it to death。 The beginning and the ends of chapters were always the best。 。。。more
Dharmakirti
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A wonderful account of the philosophy of Nagarjuna， who is one of Buddhism's more important philosophers。 This book is not a translation of Nagarjuna's work， but is an analytical account of Nagarjuna's philosophy。 A wonderful account of the philosophy of Nagarjuna， who is one of Buddhism's more important philosophers。 This book is not a translation of Nagarjuna's work， but is an analytical account of Nagarjuna's philosophy。 。。。more
Rob
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