Mattia Salvini. ‘Convention and agency in the philosophies of the Mahāyāna.’ PhD diss., Dept. of Study of Religions, School of Oriental and African Studies, 2008. 369 pp. [worldcat]
Abstract
The thesis focuses on the relationship between Sanskrit classical grammar, Abhidharma, and the debates between Madhyamaka and Yogācāra. In particular, it shows how the kāraka system, and the idea of lakṣaṇa, influence philosophical argumentation in the context of medieval Indian Buddhist thought. […]
Chapter One shows the close links between Sanskrit classical grammar and basic ideas in Buddhist thought, and isolates the kāraka system as being most relevant in this regard. It also show certain structural analogies between the kāraka system and certain important features of Buddhist philosophy. Chapter Two is mostly based on Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakośabhāṣya and its sub-commentary; it highlights and reconstructs the discussions on lakṣaṇa and agency found therein. Chapter Three shows how Madhyamaka understands similar issues, and what is the proper context and significance of its refutation of lakṣaṇas. Chapter Four shifts the focus upon the Madhyamaka understanding of conventional truths, and the role of the lakṣaṇas of Abhidharma, as well as of the kāraka system, within saṁvṛti. Chapter Five compares the Yogācāra views on the very same topics.Appendix 1 is a translation of Prajñākaramati’s commentary to Bodhicaryāvatāra 9.1-34, a work where many of the philosophical debates discussed throughout the thesis are well represented.