Das, N; (2020) A Problem for Ganeri’s Buddhaghosa. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research , 101 (2) pp. 481-488. 10.1111/phpr.12722.

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Abstract

Jonardon Ganeri’s Attention, Not Self is a terrific book. It aims to defend a picture of the mind that emerges from the work of Theravāda Abhidhamma Buddhists writing in Pāli, especially Buddhagosa (5th century CE). The Buddhists defend the theory of “no‐self”, i.e., the view that there is no ultimately existent referent of the first person pronoun “I”, which plays the role of a subject with respect to conscious experiences and thoughts and the role of an agent with respect to mental, linguistic and physical acts. This raises a challenge. The theory of “no‐self” is hard to reconcile with the fact that our conscious experiences and actions seemingly unfold within a perspective occupied by a subject who undergoes those experiences and performs actions. Ganeri brilliantly reconstructs Buddhaghosa’s response to this challenge. Attention plays a central role in this response: it explains those perspectival features of ordinary conscious experiences and intentional actions which create the illusion of an ultimately existent self.

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