Buddhism as Philosophy: An Introduction
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.14 (734 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0872208737 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 304 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-03-14 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
In this clear, concise account, Siderits makes the Buddhist tradition accessible to a Western audience, offering generous selections from the canonical Buddhist texts and providing an engaging, analytical introduction to the basic tenets of Buddhist thought.
princetonphysicist said Informative!. This is a good introductory book on Buddhist Philosophy, written with the perspective of a Western student in mind. Throughout the book, block quotes with translations of primary sources guide the discussion. The arguments are clearly laid out.. Takes on the toughest arguments of the greatest Buddhist thinkers Mark Siderits' Buddhism as Philosophy tackles Buddhist ideas, arguments and texts from a philosophical point of view. As the author points out, Buddhism has a long history of argument and debate, and holds that reason underpins the path to individual salvation, unlike in the West. Buddhism inherited and built upon Indian philosophy, since Ancient India developed a philosophical approach as robu. "A great achievement" according to K. Kehler. This is a superlative work on the philosophical underpinnings of this, the most philosophically oriented of religions/spiritual practices. Buddhism is interesting to many people and many writers, but my experience has been that many writers who write books on Buddhism tend to produce vague and prolix and -- especially -- horrifyingly unclear works. That is, these books are filled with jargon an
Moreover, existing books often include only a few short selections from original Buddhist texts. This volume provides students with the opportunity to wrestle with the richness and complexity of the primary sources. No living author has done more to make Buddhist ideas intelligible and relevant to contemporary debates in analytic philosophy. To my knowledge, no other text leads students to question critically the assertions of Buddhist philosophers and to evaluate the arguments for them. --Charles Goodman, Binghamton University. Mark Siderits is one of the most important scholars of Buddhism in the world. In my own attempts to teach Asian philosophy to American undergraduates, I have often felt the lack of a book like this one