Philosophy of the Buddha

Christopher W. Gowans is professor of philosophy at Fordham University, USA. He is editor of Moral Disagreements (Routledge 2000), Moral Dilemmas (Oxford University Press 1987) and the author of Innocence Lost: An Examination of Inescapable Wrongdoing (Oxford University Press 1994).

• 1. Observing the Stream  2. The Life of the Buddha  3. The Teaching in Brief  4. Practical Dimensions of the Teaching  5. Theoretical Dimensions of the Teaching  6. An Interpretation of the Not-Self Doctrine  7. The Rationale for Thinking There are No Substance-Selves  8. Some Philosophical Issues: Are We Substance-Selves or Process-Selves?  9. Kamma, Rebirth and the Not-Self Doctrine  10. The Nature and Extent of Suffering  11. The Origin of Suffering  12. The Cessation of Suffering: Nibbana-in-Life  13. The Cessation of Suffering: Nibbana-after-Death  14. The Eightfold Path: Wisdom  15. The Eightfold Path: Virtue  16. The Eightfold Path: Concentration  17. A Message of Hope: The Buddha's Invitation to Live Selflessly

"The book is in fact an engaging and eminently readable overview of Buddhism using the Sutta Pitaka of the Pali Canon in order to demonstrate 'that what the Buddha taught may be fruitfully understood and evaluated as a philosophy.' Indeed, this is one of the few and in my view the best, philosophical treatments of Buddhism by a Western philosopher." -- Peter Vernezze, Weber State University, Ancient Philosophy