14
votes
Resisting a classic Buddhist Argument for Mereological Nihilism
The problem as stated is equivocating on the meaning of "their parts". This phrase is used to mean two different things: "their mere collection of parts" or "their parts in ...
- 7,464
10
votes
Is life the root cause of all suffering?
According to Buddha's Theory,
It is not a theory; it is large set of traditional philosophy, world-view, precept or partly religion.
The word "theory" implies that there is something here ...
- 1,972
9
votes
Accepted
Buddhism in Phaedo
SOCRATES VERSUS BUDDHA ON THE SOUL
If Buddhism denies the existence of any continuing self or soul, this appears to conflict with Socrates' view of a continuing soul which is freed and released from ...
- 35.4k
9
votes
Is life the root cause of all suffering?
"Desire" is one possible translation for "tanha" in Pali. But other translations would be "thirst" or even "craving". I think "craving" is more useful ...
- 2,402
7
votes
Accepted
The non-existence of Gettier problems in Indo-Tibetan epistemology
Let me clarify what is not entirely clear from the OP quote but is apparent from the context of the paper: it is not that Indo-Tibetan thinkers do not consider what is known as Gettier cases, it is ...
- 42.5k
6
votes
Is Logic Empirical?
Not exactly. Of course, there is a broad reading of "empirical", which includes anything somehow extracted from experience, upon which the answer is trivially yes. But on this reading God is also ...
- 42.5k
6
votes
What is the philosophical significance of the First Law of Thermodynamics?
The Law states that “no energy can be destroyed or created..."
Not quite. In its classical formulation, the 1st law says that energy is constant in a closed system. As this isn't entirely true, it ...
- 1,808
6
votes
Accepted
Is there a relation between postmodernism and Asian philosophies?
Several thoughts on this
(1) It would help a lot if "relation" were defined more clearly. Do you mean "share similar ideas"? Do you mean that one learned from the other? Do you mean they organize the ...
- 24.6k
6
votes
Accepted
Wanted references to the Phillip K Dick Total Recall (1990) paradox
In this piece which talks about similar questions about the nature of reality and his own quasi-mystical experiences, he mentions a number of pre-socratic philosophers (Heraclitus, Parmenides, ...
- 2,837
5
votes
Accepted
Is Buddhism antinatalist?
An 'anti-natalist' conception of Buddhism involves a fundamental misunderstanding of Buddhist precepts. When Buddhists use the concepts of dukkha and tanhā —frequently translated as 'suffering' and '...
- 18.5k
5
votes
What's wrong with this reconstruction of Nagarjuna?
In his book The Fundalmental Wisdom of the Middle Way: Nagarjuna's Malamadhyamakakarika, Jay L. Garfield writes for his translation and commentary on this verse:
The essence of entities
Is ...
- 3,621
5
votes
Is life the root cause of all suffering?
Yes, but only in a fairly boring and trivial way. Any experience requires an experiencer, without life there would be nobody to experience suffering, hence there would be no suffering.
But there ...
- 297
4
votes
How can we let go of one (the Self) and not the other (Free Will)?
It seems to me that people are disposed to accept that [i.e. loss of self and oneness with the world] without much issue — is that a fair impression?
Most of the people in the West (or I should ...
- 27.1k
4
votes
Trying to understand koan, Buddhist philosophy
I see it as someone who has been a casual student of Zen Buddhism for most of my life, hence:
The way to be enlightened / to wake up from a zombie-like state -- is to pay attention to your own ...
- 2,342
4
votes
How might studying philosophy impact your mental health?
PATRICIA TURRISI, 'The Problem of the Philosophical Person', The Pluralist, Vol. 4, No. 1 (SPRING 2009), pp. 68-76, deals with the 'madness' of Socrates and William James. But it's an article, not a ...
- 35.4k
4
votes
Does enlightenment mean loss of all emotions?
If enlightenment had such a meaning, all the enlightened persons would sit in some corner without doing anything. But enlightened persons realize the truth about this material world. Many ...
- 3,601
4
votes
Question about the Four Noble Truths
"some scholars".. Not ones of Buddhism.
Anicca anatta and dukha are the three marks of existence. These are usually translated, unsatisfactoriness, impermanence and not-self. They are not ...
- 20.5k
4
votes
Resisting a classic Buddhist Argument for Mereological Nihilism
The language in (B) could mean either of two different things, one of which is true but irrelevant and one of which would be relevant but is not supported, and as a result I would reject (D).
First ...
- 11.1k
4
votes
Resisting a classic Buddhist Argument for Mereological Nihilism
This is an interesting problem, I’ll try my hand at it, here we go:
A. If wholes exist, then either wholes are identical with their parts or distinct from them.
This premise seems straight forward ...
- 429
4
votes
How does the Buddhist pursue meaning?
Disclaimer: I'm not a Buddhist, but I'm somewhat familiar with Zen Buddhism.
Buddhism is about liberation from suffering by letting go of attachments to the material world. According to Buddhism, the ...
- 11.1k
4
votes
Was Nietzsche more compassionate than the Buddha's teaching?
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change
something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.”
―Buckminster Fuller
I see this as strongly echoing Nietzsche'...
- 20.5k
3
votes
How does catuskoti apply to everyday life?
"I love you, I hate you..." is a little bit false, because hate is not the negation of love. Hate is a different situation. If I don't love somebody, it doesn't mean necessarily I hate him/her. Love ...
- 31
3
votes
Trying to understand koan, Buddhist philosophy
Its adapted from records in 1100 CE of Yunmen (雲門文偃) who was seeking his true nature by visiting Muzhou Daoming (睦州道明), known for "sudden illumination". Yunmen repeatedly visited Muzhou, ...
- 131
3
votes
How can anyone who hasn't realised the truth claim that Mahatma Buddha or any other person in history realised the God or Truth?
You write:
Isn't it possible that whatever they have realized is just a psychological effect? Doing continuously hard practices leads to affect their mind and they tend to believe that, yes, this ...
- 4,531
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