Overview

A rare glimpse of the sophisticated philosophical exchange between Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools at an early stage. The Vaidalyaprakarana provides a rare glimpse of the sophisticated philosophical exchange between Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools at an early stage and will be of interest to scholars of Buddhist thought, classical Indian Philosophy, and the history of Asian thought. Belonging to a set of Nagarjuna's philosophical works known as the yukti-corpus, the Vaidalyaprakarana is noteworthy for its close engagement with the Hindu philosophers. It refutes the sixteen categories of the Nyaya school, which formed the logical and epistemological framework for many of the debates between Buddhist and Hindu philosophers. The Sanskrit original of the Vaidalyaprakarana long lost, the author translates the text from Tibetan, giving it an extensive analytical commentary. The aim is twofold: to investigate the interaction of the founder of the Madhyamika school with this influential school of Hindu thought; and to make sense of how Nagarjuna's arguments that refute the Naiyayika categories are essential to the Madhyamika path in general.

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9781949163001

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Reviews

Jan Westerhoff is a masterful translator of Sanskrit and Tibetan, an erudite historian of Indian Buddhist philosophy and an acute philosopher. All of these qualities are in evidence in this masterpiece of philosophical translation and commentary. This translation of Nagarjuna's Vaidalyaprakarana is an important contribution to Madhyamaka studies, to our understanding of the history of debates between early Indian Mahayana philosophers and their orthodox interlocutors and to the history of world philosophy generally. The translation is highly readable and philologically meticulous, and the commentary lucid and sophisticated. Rarely is such a difficult text presented with such marvellous clarity. --Jay Garfield

Author Information

Jan Westerhoff is University Lecturer in Religious Ethics at the University of Oxford, a Fellow of Lady Margaret Hall, and a Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Originally trained as a philosopher and orientalist, his research concentrates on philosopohical aspects of the religious traditions of ancient India. His publications include Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka: An Introduction (2009), The Dispeller of Disputes: Nagarjuna's Vigrahavyavartani (2010), Reality: A Very Short Introduction (2011), and Madhyamaka and Yogacara: Allies or Rivals? (2015).

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