Tagged: Diṭṭhi (views)
Pages with this tag
Kalupahana - The Philosophy of Early History in Buddhism (1981)
1The text explores why early Buddhism, despite accepting the reality of the empirical world, lacked historical writings in the Western sense. It contrasts the Western speculative philosophy of history, which posits an unfolding Absolute, with the critical philosophy that views history as a value-laden discipline. Early Buddhism rejects the speculative approach, categorizing such grand theories as dispositionally constructed "views" (diṭṭhi) based on incomplete evidence and metaphysical assumptions. While aligning with the critical view in recognizing the evaluative nature of historical interpretation, Buddhism values "knowledge of the past" (pubbante ñāṇa) for its pragmatic role in understanding suffering. This understanding is grounded not in an absolute framework or first cause, but in the principle of dependent arising (paticcasamuppāda), a causal process knowable through experience. The ultimate goal is not to construct historical narratives but to use knowledge of causation to pacify dispositions and achieve nirvāṇa, thereby focusing on the present without being bound by speculative reconstructions of the past.
Smith - Was the Buddha an Anti-Realist (2015)
2This article argues against the view that the Buddha was an anti-realist, a position supported by scholars like Alex Wynne and Noa Ronkin who interpret apophatic passages in early texts, particularly the *Atthakavagga*, as a rejection of a mind-independent reality. The author contends that such interpretations take verses out of their broader, more cataphatic context, and that enigmatic statements about perception (*saññā*), views (*diṭṭhi*), and consciousness are better understood as psychological critiques of clinging and descriptions of jhānic meditation states rather than as metaphysical claims about an ineffable or constructed reality. In contrast, the author suggests the Buddha propounded an incomplete or "inchoate" metaphysics with realist leanings, pointing to the concept of contact (*phassa*) which implies distinct mental and physical entities, the assertion of the body's greater stability than the mind, and the objective truth-status of core doctrines like the Four Noble Truths. Ultimately, the Buddha's philosophy is presented as primarily ethical and soteriological, employing a pragmatic, non-foundationalist approach with a realist framework sufficient to ground his teachings on compassion and the path to ending suffering.