Comparative Philosophy
Institute for Philosophy Fall 2024
Instructor: Dr. Stephen Harris Lecture: Wed 10:15-12:00.
P.J. Veth 1.01
Course Text:
Ivanhoe and Van Norden. 2005. Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy. Hackett. (For Confucius, Mencius,
Dao-De-Jing and Zhuangzi.) (Required.)
Gethin, Rupert. 1998. The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford University Press. (Required). (Free Online access
available via the library).
Assessment method:
Mid-term: written exam (50%)
Final: written exam (50%)
Course Schedule
Part I: Indian Buddhism
Class 1: Introduction to Course. Introduction to Early Buddhism: The 4 Noble Truths (Sept 11)
- Tuning the Whell of Dharma sutra (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta). Available here:
https://accesstoinsight.org/ati/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.nymo.html
- The Discourse on the Not-self Characteristic Sutra (Anatta-lakkhana Sutta). Available here:
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.nymo.html
- Gethin Foundations of Buddhism: Chaps 1 and 3
No class Sept 18
Class 2: Buddhism: No-Self, Dependent Origination and Human Experience (Sept 25)
- Questions of King Milinda
- Maha-nidana Sutta: The Great Causes Discourse. Available here:
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.15.0.than.html
- Gethin chaps 1, 3 and 6
Class 3: Buddhist Abhidharma Theory of Self (October 2)
- Vasubandhu's argument handout
- Gethin chap 8
Class 4: Buddhaghosa on Love and Compassion (October 9)
- Buddhaghosa: Path of Purification: Brahmaviharas chapter
- Maria Heim: “Buddhaghosa on the Phenomenology of Love and Compassion”.
Class 5: Mahayana Buddhism and Śāntideva (October 16)
- Śāntideva: Introduction to the Practices of Awakening. Chapter Six. Focus on verses 1-51 and 104-11.
- Gethin chap 9
Class 6: Śāntideva Continued: No-self and compassion (October 23)
- Śāntideva’s Guide 8:90-103. (“anatman argument”)
- Garfield Jenkins and Priest: (“The Śāntideva Passage”)
- Śāntideva’s Guide 8:120-140. (“Exchanging Self and Other Meditation”)
Part 2: Classical Chinese Philosophy
(All readings for Chinese philosophy are from the assigned Ivanhoe and Van Norden edited anthology.)
Class 7: Introduction to Chinese philosophy. Begin Confucianism. (Nov 6)
Class 8: Confucianism: Ritual/Etiquette ( li ) (Nov 13)
Class 9: Zhuang-zi. Non-action ( wu-wei ); The Daoist Sage (Nov 20)
Class 10: Zhuang-zi. Mortality (Nov 27)
Class 11: Comparative Philosophy: Implicit Bias. (Dec 4)
Class 12: Catch up, Conclusion and Review: TBA (Dec 11)
, Comparative Philosophy: college - 11/09/2024
Introduction
Interpretive comparative philosophy: applying ideas from one
tradition to help understand the other
- ren, li, yi and zhi are virtues (Chinese Confucianism and Western/Greek)
- The Daoist Zhuangzi holds a not-self (anātman) position (Chinese and Indian
Buddhist)
Constructive comparative philosophy: drawing on multiple traditions
to make philosophical progress.
- Pooling resources and problem solving
- Critique: questioning basic assumptions of one traditions via appeal to
another.
Incorporating arguments from one tradition to support or challenge
philosophical positions in another traditions.
A frequent objection: there is no non-western philosophy. For only
Europeans have philosophical thought.
Response: However, what is philosophy? For it considers questions of
ultimacy and abstraction. And...
- ... it contains explicit systematic argumentation and dialogue
- ... it stresses individual authors vs traditional beliefs
doing non-western philosophy should also challenge out conception of
what counts as philosophical
While religion has emphasis on the divine, transcendent.
Supernatural beings
Rituals
Received tenets
Terms that can't be translated: like... 5 skandhas.
Indian terms:
▫ nyãya: reasoning
▫ anvïksikï: inquiry
▫ tarka: reasoning
▫ sïla: ethical restraint
▫ guna: virtue
Buddhism
duḥkha: ‘suffering’, ‘pain’, ‘unsatisfactory’, ‘stress’
anãtman: not-self
vedanã: feeling
tṛṣṇã: craving
, nirvãṇa
Early Buddhism:
Historical and conceptual background
SETTING IN MOTION THE WHEEL OF DHARMA SUTRA
The term ‘Dharma’ has multiple meanings (verb: to bear).
In brahmanical philosophy: truth, moral order, one's duty
For buddhists: the teachings of the buddha, the underlying nature of
reality: the truth, how we should act, an underlying real (invisible)
entity (Abhidharma).
Introduces 4 noble truths
.
‘Thus have I heard’: It marks as the voice of Ãnanda reciting without
error the words of the buddha.
(After buddha dies, the disciples have memorized his teachings. The
senior disciples are worried about corruption.)
Ancient Indian methods of liberation that include self-mortification.
The buddha in his training try and reject them. There is a second
sense in which buddhas place themselves.
o This is the middle path between indulgence of pleasure and
self-torment; the middle path between the acceptance of an
eternal metaphysical self and the rejection of any self
whatsoever.
One of the Noble truths = suffering. The cause of suffering? Craving
Basic teachings: 4 noble truths of ordinary experience being duhkha
or unsatisfactory. Cause of that is noble truth 2;craving.
Possible to be liberated from that, elimination of craving/suffering ->
nirvana. The way to do that is the Eightfold path.
o (1) Right view, (2) right intention; (3) right speech, (4) right
action, (5) right livelihood; (6) right effort, (7) right
mindfulness, (8) right concentration
Personal name: Siddhartha Gautama.
5th century BC: The buddha lived in North India. He was a member of the
Sakya clan. We know very little about his life with certainty. Buddha is an
epitaph (honorary name), meaning ‘the awakened one’. The buddha was
woken up to true understanding of the world, as impermanent, selfless
and suffering.
8th-4th century BC: sixteen ‘mahajanapadas’ (small kingdoms). The
buddha travels in the area of the kingdoms of Kosala (north of the
Ganges) and Maghadha (south of the Ganges). Buddha is born into Sakya
Republic (which is incorporated into Kosala). Setting in motion the wheel
, of dharma sutra takes place at Varanasi, then part of the smaller kingdom
of Kasi, later incorporated into Kosala.
Traditional Story: His father, a king (or regional leader), is told in a
prophecy that his son will either become a king, or a religious renunciate.
He prefers the first option. The Buddha's family successfully hides the
facts of old age, sickness, and death from him. He grows up in great
luxury, marries and has a son.
At 29, on successive trips outside the city, the buddha encounters an old
person, a sick person and a dead body, and a wandering renunciate.
Horrified by the first three encounters, and inspired by the fourth, he
abandons his life in the palace and becomes a wandering ascetic. He
practices meditation and spiritual austerities.
At 35, attains enlightenment/awakening (bodhi); realizes the 4 Noble
truths and the 3 Marks. He founds the monastic order and teaches for 45
years.
Intellectual Background:
Buddhism grows up in Hindu (/Brahmanical) context. (the sacred texts:
The Vedas and Upanisads)
Three central concepts:
1. An eternal unified self (the atman), that is the essence of all
persons
2. That self takes rebirth after death, uniting with a new body.
3. karma = actions and intentions, from pasta lives determine our
form of rebirth
The buddha rejects the existence of the atman of the Upanisads;
for there is no unchanging, indestructible underlying self.
The Buddga accepts karma and rebirth.
what's reborn if there is no self? The conventionally existing person.
Karma: (means action)
In Buddhism, it is primarily identified with good and bad intentions
(cetana) and the overall quality of the mind. Secondarily, good and
bad actions.
Karmic action (mental, physical, or verbal) bring results (karma-
phala).
The results of karma (karma-phala) can be psychological, social,
material, and cosmological (rebirth)
THE DISCOURSE ON THE NOT-SELF CHARACTERISTIC SUTRA
Institute for Philosophy Fall 2024
Instructor: Dr. Stephen Harris Lecture: Wed 10:15-12:00.
P.J. Veth 1.01
Course Text:
Ivanhoe and Van Norden. 2005. Readings in Classical Chinese Philosophy. Hackett. (For Confucius, Mencius,
Dao-De-Jing and Zhuangzi.) (Required.)
Gethin, Rupert. 1998. The Foundations of Buddhism. Oxford University Press. (Required). (Free Online access
available via the library).
Assessment method:
Mid-term: written exam (50%)
Final: written exam (50%)
Course Schedule
Part I: Indian Buddhism
Class 1: Introduction to Course. Introduction to Early Buddhism: The 4 Noble Truths (Sept 11)
- Tuning the Whell of Dharma sutra (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta). Available here:
https://accesstoinsight.org/ati/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.011.nymo.html
- The Discourse on the Not-self Characteristic Sutra (Anatta-lakkhana Sutta). Available here:
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn22/sn22.059.nymo.html
- Gethin Foundations of Buddhism: Chaps 1 and 3
No class Sept 18
Class 2: Buddhism: No-Self, Dependent Origination and Human Experience (Sept 25)
- Questions of King Milinda
- Maha-nidana Sutta: The Great Causes Discourse. Available here:
https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/dn/dn.15.0.than.html
- Gethin chaps 1, 3 and 6
Class 3: Buddhist Abhidharma Theory of Self (October 2)
- Vasubandhu's argument handout
- Gethin chap 8
Class 4: Buddhaghosa on Love and Compassion (October 9)
- Buddhaghosa: Path of Purification: Brahmaviharas chapter
- Maria Heim: “Buddhaghosa on the Phenomenology of Love and Compassion”.
Class 5: Mahayana Buddhism and Śāntideva (October 16)
- Śāntideva: Introduction to the Practices of Awakening. Chapter Six. Focus on verses 1-51 and 104-11.
- Gethin chap 9
Class 6: Śāntideva Continued: No-self and compassion (October 23)
- Śāntideva’s Guide 8:90-103. (“anatman argument”)
- Garfield Jenkins and Priest: (“The Śāntideva Passage”)
- Śāntideva’s Guide 8:120-140. (“Exchanging Self and Other Meditation”)
Part 2: Classical Chinese Philosophy
(All readings for Chinese philosophy are from the assigned Ivanhoe and Van Norden edited anthology.)
Class 7: Introduction to Chinese philosophy. Begin Confucianism. (Nov 6)
Class 8: Confucianism: Ritual/Etiquette ( li ) (Nov 13)
Class 9: Zhuang-zi. Non-action ( wu-wei ); The Daoist Sage (Nov 20)
Class 10: Zhuang-zi. Mortality (Nov 27)
Class 11: Comparative Philosophy: Implicit Bias. (Dec 4)
Class 12: Catch up, Conclusion and Review: TBA (Dec 11)
, Comparative Philosophy: college - 11/09/2024
Introduction
Interpretive comparative philosophy: applying ideas from one
tradition to help understand the other
- ren, li, yi and zhi are virtues (Chinese Confucianism and Western/Greek)
- The Daoist Zhuangzi holds a not-self (anātman) position (Chinese and Indian
Buddhist)
Constructive comparative philosophy: drawing on multiple traditions
to make philosophical progress.
- Pooling resources and problem solving
- Critique: questioning basic assumptions of one traditions via appeal to
another.
Incorporating arguments from one tradition to support or challenge
philosophical positions in another traditions.
A frequent objection: there is no non-western philosophy. For only
Europeans have philosophical thought.
Response: However, what is philosophy? For it considers questions of
ultimacy and abstraction. And...
- ... it contains explicit systematic argumentation and dialogue
- ... it stresses individual authors vs traditional beliefs
doing non-western philosophy should also challenge out conception of
what counts as philosophical
While religion has emphasis on the divine, transcendent.
Supernatural beings
Rituals
Received tenets
Terms that can't be translated: like... 5 skandhas.
Indian terms:
▫ nyãya: reasoning
▫ anvïksikï: inquiry
▫ tarka: reasoning
▫ sïla: ethical restraint
▫ guna: virtue
Buddhism
duḥkha: ‘suffering’, ‘pain’, ‘unsatisfactory’, ‘stress’
anãtman: not-self
vedanã: feeling
tṛṣṇã: craving
, nirvãṇa
Early Buddhism:
Historical and conceptual background
SETTING IN MOTION THE WHEEL OF DHARMA SUTRA
The term ‘Dharma’ has multiple meanings (verb: to bear).
In brahmanical philosophy: truth, moral order, one's duty
For buddhists: the teachings of the buddha, the underlying nature of
reality: the truth, how we should act, an underlying real (invisible)
entity (Abhidharma).
Introduces 4 noble truths
.
‘Thus have I heard’: It marks as the voice of Ãnanda reciting without
error the words of the buddha.
(After buddha dies, the disciples have memorized his teachings. The
senior disciples are worried about corruption.)
Ancient Indian methods of liberation that include self-mortification.
The buddha in his training try and reject them. There is a second
sense in which buddhas place themselves.
o This is the middle path between indulgence of pleasure and
self-torment; the middle path between the acceptance of an
eternal metaphysical self and the rejection of any self
whatsoever.
One of the Noble truths = suffering. The cause of suffering? Craving
Basic teachings: 4 noble truths of ordinary experience being duhkha
or unsatisfactory. Cause of that is noble truth 2;craving.
Possible to be liberated from that, elimination of craving/suffering ->
nirvana. The way to do that is the Eightfold path.
o (1) Right view, (2) right intention; (3) right speech, (4) right
action, (5) right livelihood; (6) right effort, (7) right
mindfulness, (8) right concentration
Personal name: Siddhartha Gautama.
5th century BC: The buddha lived in North India. He was a member of the
Sakya clan. We know very little about his life with certainty. Buddha is an
epitaph (honorary name), meaning ‘the awakened one’. The buddha was
woken up to true understanding of the world, as impermanent, selfless
and suffering.
8th-4th century BC: sixteen ‘mahajanapadas’ (small kingdoms). The
buddha travels in the area of the kingdoms of Kosala (north of the
Ganges) and Maghadha (south of the Ganges). Buddha is born into Sakya
Republic (which is incorporated into Kosala). Setting in motion the wheel
, of dharma sutra takes place at Varanasi, then part of the smaller kingdom
of Kasi, later incorporated into Kosala.
Traditional Story: His father, a king (or regional leader), is told in a
prophecy that his son will either become a king, or a religious renunciate.
He prefers the first option. The Buddha's family successfully hides the
facts of old age, sickness, and death from him. He grows up in great
luxury, marries and has a son.
At 29, on successive trips outside the city, the buddha encounters an old
person, a sick person and a dead body, and a wandering renunciate.
Horrified by the first three encounters, and inspired by the fourth, he
abandons his life in the palace and becomes a wandering ascetic. He
practices meditation and spiritual austerities.
At 35, attains enlightenment/awakening (bodhi); realizes the 4 Noble
truths and the 3 Marks. He founds the monastic order and teaches for 45
years.
Intellectual Background:
Buddhism grows up in Hindu (/Brahmanical) context. (the sacred texts:
The Vedas and Upanisads)
Three central concepts:
1. An eternal unified self (the atman), that is the essence of all
persons
2. That self takes rebirth after death, uniting with a new body.
3. karma = actions and intentions, from pasta lives determine our
form of rebirth
The buddha rejects the existence of the atman of the Upanisads;
for there is no unchanging, indestructible underlying self.
The Buddga accepts karma and rebirth.
what's reborn if there is no self? The conventionally existing person.
Karma: (means action)
In Buddhism, it is primarily identified with good and bad intentions
(cetana) and the overall quality of the mind. Secondarily, good and
bad actions.
Karmic action (mental, physical, or verbal) bring results (karma-
phala).
The results of karma (karma-phala) can be psychological, social,
material, and cosmological (rebirth)
THE DISCOURSE ON THE NOT-SELF CHARACTERISTIC SUTRA
