Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies, Volume V

Volume V of Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies brings together major studies on some of the most technically sophisticated areas of Buddhist philosophy. Its central concern is the relationship between consciousness, knowledge, language, inference, and liberation. The studies of Dignāga and Dharmakīrti reveal how Buddhist philosophers developed rigorous theories of perception and inference in response to questions concerning cognitive validity and conceptual construction. The Yogācāra contributions examine consciousness-only doctrine and the philosophical meaning of enlightenment, while the Tathāgatagarbha studies explore the emergence of Buddha-nature as a distinctive Mahāyāna discourse concerning the possibility of awakening. The inclusion of Chinese and Tibetan materials further demonstrates how Indian Buddhist philosophical categories were reinterpreted within new intellectual environments. The volume therefore serves as an important research resource for the study of Yogācāra, Buddhist epistemology, pramāṇa theory, Buddhist logic, Buddha-nature, and the wider development of Mahāyāna philosophy.