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.

About the Author
Jan Westerhoff is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Durham, United Kingdom.

Reviews
Of course the book should be read by anyone seriously interested in Indian and Buddhist philosophy. But those who do metaphysics would do well to consider the challenges that Nagarjuna's arguments represent. They may find that they have reason to thank Westerhoff for making these arguments accessible to non-specialists. * Mark Siderits, Mind *



Book Information
ISBN 9780195384963
Author Jan Westerhoff
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 410g
Dimensions(mm) 234mm * 156mm * 19mm