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Engaging Buddhism: Why It Matters to Philosophy

Jay L. Garfield

3.93 · Rating details · 46 ratings · 8 reviews

This is a book for scholars of Western philosophy who wish to engage with Buddhist philosophy, or who simply want to extend their philosophical horizons. It is also a book for scholars of Buddhist studies who want to see how Buddhist theory articulates with contemporary philosophy. Engaging Buddhism: Why it Matters to Philosophy articulates the basic metaphysical framework This is a book for scholars of Western philosophy who wish to engage with Buddhist philosophy, or who simply want to extend their philosophical horizons. It is also a book for scholars of Buddhist studies who want to see how Buddhist theory articulates with contemporary philosophy. Engaging Buddhism: Why it Matters to Philosophy articulates the basic metaphysical framework common to Buddhist traditions. It then explores questions in metaphysics, the philosophy of mind, phenomenology, epistemology, the philosophy of language and ethics as they are raised and addressed in a variety of Asian Buddhist traditions. In each case the focus is on philosophical problems; in each case the connections between Buddhist and contemporary Western debates are addressed, as are the distinctive contributions that the Buddhist tradition can make to Western discussions. Engaging Buddhism is not an introduction to Buddhist philosophy, but an engagement with it, and an argument for the importance of that engagement. It does not pretend to comprehensiveness, but it does address a wide range of Buddhist traditions, emphasizing the heterogeneity and the richness of those traditions. The book concludes with methodological reflections on how to prosecute dialogue between Buddhist and Western traditions.

"Garfield has a unique talent for rendering abstruse philosophical concepts in ways that make them easy to grasp. This is an important book, one that can profitably be read by scholars of Western and non-Western philosophy, including specialists in Buddhist philosophy. This is in my estimation the most important work on Buddhist philosophy in recent memory. It covers a wide range of topics and provides perhaps the clearest analysis of some core Buddhist ideas to date. This is landmark work. I think it's the best cross-cultural analysis of the relevance of Buddhist thought for contemporary philosophy in the present literature."-C. John Powers, Professor, School of Culture, History & Language, Australian National University
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Paperback, 400 pages

Published January 19th 2015 by Oxford University Press, USA (first published November 23rd 2014)

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Sep 16, 2015 ἀρχαῖος (arkhaîos) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: philosophy-asia

Engaging Buddhism: Why It Matters to Philosophy

This is a bit long. Read at your peril.

First, just a note to say that for the last couple of years, I have reserved a 5 Star rating for books that succeed in altering my worldview to some degree. Engaging Buddhism has done so.

Now for the disclaimer: the blurb for the book states that it "... is a book for scholars of Western philosophy who wish to engage with Buddhist philosophy, or who simply want to extend their philosophical horizons. It is ...more

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Aug 01, 2017 Rob rated it it was amazing

Awesome second time around

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May 23, 2019 Alina W. rated it it was amazing

Garfield elucidates views in Mahayana and Yogacara Buddhism on metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, logic, phenomenology, and the self. He does this in an incredibly clear and concise manner. (He also has a fantastic style and sense of humor!) Garfield shows that the philosophical problems to which these Buddhist philosophers responded have resemblances to those found in the Western tradition. But these Buddhist philosophers start off from radically different assumptions than those in Western Garfield elucidates views in Mahayana and Yogacara Buddhism on metaphysics, ethics, epistemology, logic, phenomenology, and the self. He does this in an incredibly clear and concise manner. (He also has a fantastic style and sense of humor!) Garfield shows that the philosophical problems to which these Buddhist philosophers responded have resemblances to those found in the Western tradition. But these Buddhist philosophers start off from radically different assumptions than those in Western philosophy. Thus, Western philosophers can learn a lot by appreciating these Buddhist views.

In reading this book, we (as in people who have been exposed mainly to Western philosophy and culture) realize that we've taken certain assumptions for granted. We realize not only that it is possible to form coherent views without these assumptions, which previously might've seen as necessary. But also we realize challenging our assumptions might be preferable, allowing for philosophical positions that are more naturalistic and ethical than those in the Western mainstream. (Garfield doesn't aim to show that Buddhist philosophy is superior in any way; this is just my own opinion, as a philosopher who has always been sympathetic with Continental approaches, or philosophy that acknowledges that historical-social conditions constrain the possibilities of theorizing).

For example, Buddhist philosophy starts off with the assumption that there is an ultimate reality and a conventional reality, whose contents are totally independent of each other. Conventional reality refers to everything we can possibly think about and experience; it includes objects and properties, persons and emotions.

Conventional reality is deceptive. Ultimately, there are no objects or properties at all, but everything depends on its relations to everything else, and all is in flux. Moreover, any definitive identity, of a particular or universal, depends on our socially-contingent concepts. But this also means the very distinction between conventional reality and ultimate reality is yet another conventional distinction; these two planes of reality are identical in a sense, and all is conventional. And yet conventional reality can be distinguished from the ultimate. Being itself is inherently paradoxical.

This metaphysical starting point has huge implications on views across philosophical domains. Garfield examines how our Western views on topics from modal logic to selfhood would be impacted by taking this metaphysical view seriously.

As another example, Buddhist philosophy starts from the assumption that the lives of all sentient beings are permeated with dukkha (translated loosely as suffering or frustration); suffering is a necessary condition of conscious experience. Suffering originates in the gap between conventional reality and ultimate reality. We experience ourselves as individuals, see enduring, real objects before us, and desire those objects. But in reality our identity is collective, or distributed not only socially but across nature; and objects depend on our attitudes toward them, among myriads of other factors. So desires can never be satisfied by such changeable objects.

This starting point leads to an ethics that is very different than what we know in Western culture. On this Buddhist view, it is positively irrational to be egoistic. When we think we are individuals and wish to act for our own interests, independently of the interests of others, we are acting in opposition to ultimate reality; it is literally irrational. On the flipside, acting for the sake of all beings is rational.

Garfield also does a good job showing the diversity of different Buddhist traditions, and particular philosophers within a given tradition. It is ignorant to think there is a monolithic 'Buddhist philosophy'; there is as much plurality there as there is in Western philosophy. Garfield's purpose, however, is not to give an introduction to the primary traditions in Buddhism. His purpose is to show that studying these Buddhist traditions is very interesting and useful for Western philosophers; since his background is strongest in Mahayana and Yogacara philosophy, he draws on those traditions as examples. Garfield offers a terrific bibliography and particular recommendations for readers interested in getting a more comprehensive introduction to different Buddhist traditions, or in exploring a particular philosophical problem in greater detail.

I think this book is a must-read for not only people interested in Buddhist philosophy; it's important for anyone who is serious about philosophy, but only primarily knows Western philosophy. ...more

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May 26, 2016 Ellison rated it it was amazing

Shelves: buddhism

The best book I have read examining Buddhism from a western philosophical perspective. He does get carried away with subordinate clauses at times but he is packing a lot in and the best way to read this book is slowly, one sentence at a time.

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Jul 06, 2016 Taka rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016, buddhism

Difficult, but rewarding overall—

This is a difficult book to engage with, not just because of Garfield's liberal use of academic jargon (abstracta, relata, explanans, explanandum, sequelae, etc.), but because so much of his discussions assumes a pretty intimate knowledge of contemporary Western philosophical topics on the part of the reader. I majored in (Western) philosophy in college and although I haven't read contemporary philosophy intensively since then, I consider myself sufficiently ...more

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Dec 24, 2018 Stereo rated it really liked it

Solid book. Does exactly what it intends to. Bit too analytic for me.

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Jul 12, 2015 Rachael rated it did not like it

To be fair, I am not a scholar of philosophy or a scholar of anything else. I had to read this book for class and found it too difficult for me to really follow what was being said.

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