Write on ONE of the following:
The Yoga-Sāṅkhya and Abhidharma Buddhist views of the self are directly opposed. Neither view is obviously true or obviously false. To evaluate them, we need to assess the strength of the arguments in favor, and the strength of the arguments opposed. Pick either the Yoga-Sāṅkhya view OR the Buddhist and 1) present the strongest argument(s) in its favor; 2) the strongest arguments against; 3) evaluate. Should a neutral party be persuaded by the case for or the case against?
Both the Yoga-Sāṅkhya and the Abhidharma Buddhist views argue that if one follows their path, one will eventually become both unattached to goods such as wealth, power, and pleasure, and be positively inclined to be benevolent towards others. That is, one will be both happy and morally good. A critic might argue that if this is the case, it doesn’t really matter which view we choose. So why worry about whether the metaphysical claims about the self made by either school is correct? That is, a critic might argue that the metaphysics of the self is irrelevant to their views about how to live. Consider how either or both schools could respond to this criticism. After all, they spend a lot of time on the metaphysics—is it really to no purpose? How would they defend the idea that the metaphysics matters? Would they be right to do so?
Explanatory notes:
Please note that for the purposes of this paper, I am asking you to consider specifically the Abhidharma account of the metaphysics of Buddhism. This is of course not the only interpretation of the Buddha’s claims, and we will look at others. You should take Siderits Chapter 6 as your guide to Abhidharma metaphysics.
Your paper should have the parts we’ve discussed:
Motivation of the question
Presentation of the case in favor of the view to be critiqued
Presentation of the case against
Critical evaluation of the opposing arguments
Conclusion
But you should not lose sight of the fact that the purpose of the paper is to raise a philosophical question and try to answer it:
The first prompt asks you to raise the question: what kind of a thing is special entity we call a person, which we take to be so different from ordinary objects in so many ways?
The second prompt asks you to raise the question: how do our ideas about what is real and what isn’t affect our beliefs and decisions about how to live, and what is right or wrong?
This Essay requires a work cited page and in-text citations. (ONLY ONE SOURCE REQUIRED)
below, I”ve attached our textbooks from this class, which our professor wants us to use as sources. You only need to use ONE of the following as a source:
• Upaniṣads, translated by Patrick Olivelle. Oxford University Press, 2008.
• The Bhagavad-Gita, translated by George Thompson. North Point Press, 2008.
• Buddhism as Philosophy, by Mark Siderits. Hackett, 2007.
• The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, by Edwin F. Bryant. North Point Press, 2009.
• The Bodhicaryāvatāra, by Śāntideva. Oxford University Press, 2008.
3
• Sayings of the Buddha: New Translations from the Pali Nikayas, translated by Rupert
Gethin. Oxford University Press, 2008. [available online through FSU libraries]
• The Nyāya-Sutra: Selections with the Early Commentaries, by M. Dasti and S. Philips.
Hackett, 2017
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