The Svatantrika-Prasangika Distinction: What Difference Does a Difference Make?

Georges B. J. Dreyfus, Sara L. McClintock

Wisdom Publications, 2003 - Philosophy - 402 pages

Madhyamaka, or "Middle Way," philosophy came to Tibet from India and became the basis of all of Tibetan Buddhism. The Tibetans, however, differentiated two streams of Madhyamaka philosophy--Svatantrika and Prasangika. In this collection, leading scholars in the field address the distinction on various levels, including the philosophical import for both Indian and Tibetan Madhyamaka and the historical development of the distinction itself.

About the author

Georges Dreyfus was the first Westerner to obtain the title of Geshe Lharampa, the highest degree confered within the traditional Tibetan monastic system. He earned his PhD in the History of Religions at the University of Virginia. He is presently Professor of Religion at Williams College. Sara L. McClintock is an assistant professor of religion at Emory University, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism. She obtained her bachelor's degree in fine arts from Bryn Mawr College, her master's in world religions from Harvard Divinity School, and her doctorate in religion from Harvard University. She has spent time as a researcher at the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies in Sarnath and the University of Lausanne, and has taught at Carleton College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her interests include both narrative and philosophical traditions in South Asian Buddhism, with particular focus on issues of metaphysics, hermeneutics, and rhetoric.

Bibliographic information

• Title: The Svatantrika-Prasangika Distinction: What Difference Does a Difference Make?; Eastern religion / Philosophy; Studies in Indian and Tibetan Buddhism, ISSN 1523-8350
• Editors: Georges B. J. Dreyfus, Sara L. McClintock
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Wisdom Publications, 2003
• ISBN: 0861713249, 9780861713240
• Length: 402 pages
• Subjects: Philosophy / Buddhist; Philosophy / Eastern; Philosophy / Metaphysics; Religion / Buddhism / Tibetan; Religion / Comparative Religion; Religion / Eastern