The Refutation of the Self in Indian Buddhism: Candrakirti on the Selflessness of Persons

Since the Buddha did not fully explain the theory of persons that underlies his teaching, in later centuries a number of different interpretations were developed. This book presents one of these interpretations by the celebrated Indian Buddhist philosopher, Candrakrti (ca. 570650 C.E.). Candrakrti's theory is part of the "Introduction to the Middle Way" ("Madhyamakvatra"), which is the central treatise upon which the Madhyamaka (Middle Way) School of Indian Buddhist philosophy was developed. In this book, the text is translated and provided with an introduction and commentary, which offers a careful analysis and historical context. A philosophical analysis of an ancient Indian philosophical text that is both philologically precise and analytically sophisticated, this book will be of interest to scholars of Buddhism generally and Buddhist philosophy.