ENGLISH

Selfless persons: imagery and thought in Theravāda Buddhism

By Steven Collins

Book information

Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Year
1990
ISBN
052139726X, 9780521397261
Google Books ID
8sLMkNn26-gC
Open Library ID
OL7739394M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
4 MB (3890914 bytes)
Pages
336\334
Orientation
yes
Scanned
yes
Time added
2012-02-04 16:00:00

Description

This book explains the Buddhist doctrine of annatt? ("not-self"), which denies the existence of any self, soul, or enduring essence in man. The author relates this doctrine to its cultural and historical context, particularly to its Brahman background. He shows how the Theravada Buddhist tradition has constructed a philosophical and psychological account of personal identity on the apparently impossible basis of the denial of self. Although the emphasis of the book is firmly philosophical, Dr. Collins makes use of a number of academic disciplines, particularly those of anthropology, linguistics, sociology, and comparative religion, in an attempt to discover the "deep structure" of Buddhist culture and imagination, and to make these doctrines comprehensible in terms of the western history of ideas.

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