Hindu and Buddhist Ideas in Dialogue Self and No-Self

The debates between various Buddhist and Hindu philosophical systems about the existence, definition and nature of self, occupy a central place in the history of Indian philosophy and religion. These debates concern various issues: what 'self' means, whether the self can be said to exist at all, arguments that can substantiate any position on this question, how the ordinary reality of individual persons can be explained, and the consequences of each position. At a time when comparable issues are at the forefront of contemporary Western philosophy, in both analytic and continental traditions (as well as in their interaction), these classical and medieval Indian debates widen and globalise such discussions. This book brings to a wider audience the sophisticated range of positions held by various systems of thought in classical India.

Contents: Introduction, Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad; Senses of self and not self in the Upanisads and Nikayas, Brian Black; Why didn't Siddhartha Gautama become a Samkhya philosopher, after all?, Marzenna Jakubczak; Self, consciousness and liberation in classical Samkhya, Mikel Burley; Buddhist no-self: an analysis and critique, Jonardon Ganeri; Emotions: a challenge to no-self views, Irina Kuznetsova; Uddyotakara's defence of a self, John Taber; The abode of recognition: memory and the continuity of selfhood in classical Nyaya thought, Douglas L. Berger; Self and memory: personal identity and unified consciousness in comparative perspective, Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad; Action, desire and subjectivity in Prabhakara Mimamsa, Elisa Freschi; On the Adviatic identification of self and consciousness, Wolfgang Fasching; Luminosity, subjectivity, and temporality: an examination of Buddhist and Advaita views of consciousness, Matthew MacKenzie; Arguing from synthesis to the self: Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta respond to Buddhist no-selfism, Arindam Chakrabarti; Indian philosophy and the question of the self, Ankur Barua; Bibliography; Index.

Dr. Kuznetsova, Lancaster University, UK; Prof. Ganeri, University of Sussex, UK; Prof. Ram-Prasad, Lancaster University, UK.