Recognizing Reality: Dharmakirti's Philosophy and Its Tibetan Interpretations (S U N Y Series in Buddhist Studies)

Rating:
Summary: Recognizing reality- the evolution of Buddhist views
Review: This books is an excellent treatise on Buddhist philosophy, in particular I found it provided a description of the differences in interpretation between different schools of thought as they evolved over time. It also points out many similiarities and differences between the Eastern and Western philosophical traditions. By focusing on a few critical philosophical topics, such as realism, it provides a more accessible detail view of later Buddhist philosophy than many other works. Clear and engaging writing.

Rating:
Summary: filling a gap in western studies of buddhism
Review: This guy has done his homework. In a few languages! The book is less about buddhist "philosophy" as a whole, as much as about epistimology, the shared view of which any two buddhist debators would need as a starting point. The various trends that developed to "cope" with Dharmakirti's somewhat slippery model is what forms much of the book. The western idea of "universal" is the equivalent to the concept Dreyfus puts under the microscope for us. I found this book both challenging and rewarding, though it did take me quite a while to read~!

Rating:
Summary: filling a gap in western studies of buddhism
Review: This guy has done his homework. In a few languages! The book is less about buddhist "philosophy" as a whole, as much as about epistimology, the shared view of which any two buddhist debators would need as a starting point. The various trends that developed to "cope" with Dharmakirti's somewhat slippery model is what forms much of the book. The western idea of "universal" is the equivalent to the concept Dreyfus puts under the microscope for us. I found this book both challenging and rewarding, though it did take me quite a while to read~!

Rating:
Summary: Recognizing reality- the evolution of Buddhist views
Review: This is one of the best books available on those aspects of Indian and Tibetan philosophy that have the most in common with Western analytic philosophy. (Another is Matilal's book _Perception_.) I'm very sorry to see that it's out of print, and I hope that changes soon. It concerns the development of a certain tradition of Buddhism (originating with Dharmakirti) that began as a version of antirealism (opposed to the realism of the Nyaya school of Hinduism) but gradually found itself compelled by its own intellectual commitments to evolve into a version of realism. So it has a happy ending!

Rating:
Summary: Up from anti-realism
Review: This is one of the best books available on those aspects of Indian and Tibetan philosophy that have the most in common with Western analytic philosophy. (Another is Matilal's book _Perception_.) I'm very sorry to see that it's out of print, and I hope that changes soon. It concerns the development of a certain tradition of Buddhism (originating with Dharmakirti) that began as a version of antirealism (opposed to the realism of the Nyaya school of Hinduism) but gradually found itself compelled by its own intellectual commitments to evolve into a version of realism. So it has a happy ending!