The Moon Points Back

The Moon Points Back comprises essays by both established scholars in Buddhist and Western philosophy and young scholars contributing to cross-cultural philosophy. It continues the program of Pointing at the Moon (Oxford University Press, 2009), integrating the approaches and insights of contemporary logic and analytic philosophy along with those of Buddhist Studies in order to engage with Buddhist ideas in a contemporary voice.

The essays in the volume focus on the Buddhist notion of emptiness (sunyata), exploring its relationship to core philosophical issues concerning the self, the nature of reality, logic, and epistemology. The volume closes with reflections on methodological issues raised by bringing together traditional Buddhist philosophy and contemporary analytic philosophy.

The Moon Points Back demonstrates convincingly that integration of Buddhist philosophy with contemporary analytic philosophy and logic allows for novel understandings of and insights into Buddhist philosophical thought. It also shows how Buddhist philosophers can contribute to debates in contemporary Western philosophy and how contemporary philosophers and logicians can engage with Buddhist material.

Yasuo Deguchi is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Kyoto University.

Jay L Garfield is the Doris Silbert Professor in the Humanities and a Professor of Philosophy at Smith College.

Graham Priest is the Boyce Gibson Professor of Philosophy at the University of Melbourne.

Koji Tanaka is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Auckland.

Introduction - Deguchi Yasuo, Jay L. Garfield, Graham Priest, and Koji Tanaka

Chapter 1: Persons Keeping Their Karma Together: The Reasons for the Pudgalavada in Early Buddhism - Amber Carpenter

Chapter 2: On Minds, Dharmakirti and Madhyamaka - Tom J.F. Tillemans

Chapter 3: On Being Humean about the Emptiness of Causation - Ricki Bliss

Chapter 4: Essence and Happiness - Roy W. Perrett

Chapter 5: The Net of Indra - Graham Priest

Chapter 6: Buddhist Reductionism and Emptiness of Huayan Perspective - Nicholaos Jones

Chapter 7: Constructing Logic of Emptiness: Nishitani, Jizang, and Paraconsistency - Yasuo Deguchi

Chapter 8: Nagarjuna's Logic - Aaron Cotnoir

Chapter 9: Conventional Truth and Intentionality in the Work of Dharmakirti - Laura Guerrero

Chapter 10: Relativism in Buddhist Philosophy: Candrakirti on Mutual Dependence and the Basis of Convention - Elena Walsh

Chapter 11: Two Truths and Method - Jay L. Garfield

Contributors
References
Index