Recognizing Reality: Dharmakirti's Philosophy and Its Tibetan Interpretations

by Georges B.J. Dreyfus, Matthew T. Kapstein (Editor)

Drawing both on years of study with Tibetan Buddhist teachers and on academic studies in western philosophy, Dreyfus explores the problem of universals in the context of Buddhist tradition. He considers the ideas of the seventh-century Indian philosopher Dharmakirti not as he expressed them himself, but from the perspective of their reception in Ti

Genres: Buddhism, Philosophy

629 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Kirstian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Homage to Manjushri! If I ever achieve my M.A., it will largely (almost entirely) be thanks to Georges B.J. Dreyfus and this particular work. Even if you have no interest in Tibetan Buddhism, this book delivers a lucid, much needed and "reader-friendly" overview of Western philosophy (predominantly analytic tradition). Of course, such is offered to make possible his more exacting discussion of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy; particularly Dharmakirti's theory.*

Georges Dreyfus has both a Ph.D. in Western philosophy and also holds the much coveted, extremely rare equivalent title of "Geshe" in the Tibetan scholastic system. So, i don't know what else to say. If you want to know how things exist (at least from the Buddhist perspective), Dreyfus is your man. And he does it all, for the most part, in "layman's terms"! But please note: if you're more interested in deconstructionism, he addresses that kind of East-West comparison more in his "The Sound of Two Hands Clapping."

e.g., the "Dignaga-Dharmakirti "logico-epistemological" tradition.

[Sam Vanneman · Rating 5 out of 5]

so very good. excellent writing. a new look at an old and perhaps well traversed topic (i.e. - the problem of universals and attendant corollaries).