ARTICLES
Emptiness in the Pāli Suttas and the Question of Nāgārjuna’s Orthodoxy
Abraham Vélez de Cea, 507
This essay attempts to clarify the position of Nāgārjuna in the history of Buddhist philosophy by comparing the concept of emptiness in the Pāli Nikāyas and the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā. It is argued that the identity of samsāra with nirvāna, the emptiness of svabhāva of all dharmas, and the equating of emptiness and dependent arising are not revolutionary innovations of Nāgārjuna or the second turning of the wheel of Dharma, but orthodox philosophical moves entailed by the teachings of early Buddhism.
Vasubandhu’s Illusion Argument and the Parasitism of Illusion upon Veridical Experience
Joel Feldman, 529
Vasubandhu, an advocate of the idealist Yogācāra school of Buddhism, argues that the nonexistence of external objects can be inferred from the appearance of nonexistent things in perceptual illusion. The idealist view and the argument from illusion are criticized by proponents of the realist Nyāya school on the grounds that illusory experience is parasitic upon veridical experience. The parasitism objection successfully defeats Vasubandhu’s argument from illusion but fails to decisively disprove the idealist view because it remains possible that each illusory experience gets its content from a previous illusory experience in an infinite chain.
Aquinas and Dōgen and Virtues
Douglas K. Mikkelson, 542
Here is presented the functional relationship between certain prominent virtues in Dōgen (karunā and prajñā and kō) vis-à-vis the functional relationship between certain prominent virtues in Aquinas (caritas and prudentia and pietas) in order to contribute to a better understanding of Dōgen’s moral vision and provide some groundwork preliminary to the task of a detailed comparison of Aquinas and Dōgen.
Mullā Sadrā and Causation: Rethinking a Problem in Later Islamic Philosophy
Sajjad H. Rizvi, 570
A central assumption in this essay, in terms of both historical development and methodological approach, is that later Islamic philosophy is characterized by a shift from a substance-based metaphysics to a processoriented metaphysics. Defenders of substance metaphysics often focus on the nature of causation to attack process metaphysics. If there is no substance or substratum for process, then how can events have any causal nature? If neither cause nor the caused are somehow stable in terms of their essence and essential features, then how can one be said to act upon the other? After considering the function of causation in other metaphysical systems and certain skeptical denials of causation, its role in the mystical thought and onto-theology of the Iranian philosopher Mullā Sadrā (d. 1641) is examined.
Three Language-related Methods in Early Chinese Chan Buddhism
Desheng Zong, 584
It is an assertion routinely made that the rise of Chan represents a new stage in the development of Chinese Buddhism. But there can be no philosophical breakthrough without the discovery of new conceptual tools or perspectives. The histories and philosophical meanings of three language-related Chan methods are explored here; it is shown that not only are the methods vital to our understanding of Chan Buddhism but also they explain why Chan is so different from anything Chinese philosophy had seen up until the rise of Chan.
BOOK REVIEWS
Intimacy or Integrity: Philosophy and Cultural Difference, by Thomas P. Kasulis
Reviewed by David Jones and John A. Sweeney, 603
Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms: The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History, by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney
Reviewed by Gary L. Ebersole, 607
New Perspectives on Advaita Vedānta: Essays in Commemoration of Professor Richard De Smet, SJ, edited by Bradley J. Malkovsky
Reviewed by Godabarisha Mishra, 610
The Vivekacūdāmani of Śankarācārya Bhagavatpāda: An Introduction and Translation, translated by John Grimes
Reviewed by Douglas L. Berger, 616
Cit: Consciousness, by Bina Gupta
Reviewed by Alan Preti, 619
BOOK NOTE
Asian Philosophies, Fourth Edition, by John M. Koller, 624