Personal Identity and Buddhist Philosophy ─ Empty Persons

Since the publication of Mark Siderits' important book in 2003, much has changed in the field of Buddhist philosophy. There has been unprecedented growth in analytic metaphysics, and a considerable amount of new work on Indian theories of the self and personal identity has emerged. Fully revised and updated, and drawing on these changes as well as on developments in the author's own thinking, Personal Identity and Buddhist Philosophy, second edition explores the conversation between Buddhist and Western Philosophy showing how concepts and tools drawn from one philosophical tradition can help solve problems arising in another. Siderits discusses afresh areas involved in the philosophical investigation of persons, including vagueness and its implications for personal identity, recent attempts by scholars of Buddhist philosophy to defend the attribution of an emergentist account of personhood to at least some Buddhists, and whether a distinctively Buddhist antirealism can avoid problems that beset other forms of ontological anti-foundationalism.

Mark Siderits recently retired from the Philosophy Department of Seoul National University, where he taught Asian and comparative philosophy. His research interests lie in the intersection between classical Indian philosophy on the one hand, and analytic metaphysics and philosophy of language on the other. Among his more recent publications are Buddhism As Philosophy (Ashgate/Hackett), Personal Identity and Buddhist Philosophy: Empty Persons (Ashgate) and, together with ShAryA? Katsura, NAgArjunaa€?s Middle Way: MA?lamadhyamakakArikA (Wisdom). He has also edited several collections of work on Indianalytic philosophy.