Abstract
Madhyamaka claims that while everything is in fact empty, the use of concepts invariably leads to the error known as prapañca or hypostatisation, in the form of the supposition that there are things with intrinsic nature. This may be put as the claim that all conceptualisation falsifies. But this claim is paradoxical in that its truth would entail its falsity. While Mādhyamikas have not directly addressed this problem, a solution might be found utilizing the resources of contextualist semantics. This paper explores the origins of the paradox by tracing the history of the notion of prapañca, and then examines how a contextualist approach might resolve the difficulty.
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Abbreviations
AKBh: Abhidharmakośabhāṣyam of Vasubandhu, ed. Prahlad Pradhan, Patna: Jayaswal Research Institute, 1975. English translation by Leo M. Pruden of Louis de La Vallée Poussin’s French translation: Abhidharmakośabhaṣyam. Berkeley, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1988.
AN = Aṅguttara Nikāya, ed. R. Morris and E. Hardy. 5 vols. London: Pali Text Society, 1885–1900. English translation by Bhikkhu Bodhi, Numerical Discourses of the Buddha. Boston, MA: Wisdom, 2012.
DN = Dīgha-nikāya, ed. T.W. Rhys Davids and J.E. Carpenter, 3 vols., London: Pali Text Society, 1889–1910. English translation by Maurice Walshe, The Long Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Dīgha Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995.
MAV = Madhyamakāvatāra of Candrakīrti. Chapter 6, ed. Li Xuezhu, Madhyamakāvatāra-kārikā Chapter 6. Journal of Indian Philosophy, 43 (2015), 1–30.
MMK: Mūlamadhyamakakārikā of Nāgārjuna. In Louis de la Vallée Poussin (ed.), Mūlamadhyamakakārikās (Mādhyamikasūtras) de Nāgārjuna avec la Prasannapdā Commentaire de Candrakīrti. Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag, 1970. English trans. by Mark Siderits and Shōryū Katsura, Nāgārjuna’s Middle Way: Mūlamadhyamakakārikā . Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications, 2013.
MN = Majjhima Nikāya, ed. V. Trenckner and R. Chalmers, 3 vols., London: Pali Text Society, 1888–1902. English translation by B. Ñānamoli and B. Bodhi, The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A New Translation of the Majjhima Nikāya. Boston: Wisdom Publications, 1995.
MP = Milindapañho. In V. Trenckner, ed. 1928. The Milindapañho. Reprint 1962. London: Pali Text Society. English translation. by T.W. Rhys Davids. 1890–94. The Questions of King Milinda. Reprint 1965. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
PP = Prasannapadā of Candrakīrti. See MMK.
PS = Buddhaghosa, Papanca Sudani: Commentary to the Majjhima Nikāya, ed. Simon Hevawitharane. Colombo: Bequest, 1924–1947.
SN = Saṃyutta Nikāya, ed. M. Léon Feer, 5 vols., London: Pali Text Society, 1884–98. English translation by C. Rhys Davids, The Book of the Kindred Sayings (Samyutta-nikaya) or Grouped Suttas. London: Luzac, 1950–56.
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Siderits, M. The Prapañca Paradox. J Indian Philos 47, 645–659 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-019-09395-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-019-09395-0