Omniscience and the Rhetoric of Reason

Rationality, Argumentation, and Religious Authority in Santaraksita's Tattvasamgraha and Kamalasila's Panjika

By: Sara McClintock

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Paperback | 12 October 2010

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432 Pages

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The great Buddhist scholars Santaraksita (725 - 88 CE.) and his disciple Kamalasila were among the most influential thinkers in classical India. They debated ideas not only within the Buddhist tradition but also with exegetes of other Indian religions, and they both traveled to Tibet during Buddhism's infancy there. Their views, however, have been notoriously hard to classify. The present volume examines Santaraksita's Tattvasamgraha and Kamalasila's extensive commentary on it, works that cover all conceivable problems in Buddhist thought and portray Buddhism as a supremely rational faith.

One hotly debated topic of their time was omniscience - whether it is possible and whether a rational person may justifiably claim it as a quality of the Buddha. Santaraksita and Kamalasila affirm both claims, but in their argumentation they employ divergent rhetorical strategies in different passages, advancing what appear to be contradictory positions. McClintock's investigation of the complex strategies these authors use in defense of omniscience sheds light on the rhetorical nature of their enterprise, one that shadows their own personal views as they advance the arguments they deem most effective to convince the audiences at hand.

Industry Reviews

"Sara L. McClintock's Omniscience and the Rhetoric of Reason is a philosophical discussion of a curious Buddhist question: Does a buddha know everything at all times, have the ability to know anything they wish, or simply know all that is necessary for liberation? McClintock's masterful exploration is built around two important eighth-century Indian Buddhist philosophical works: Shantarakshita's Tattvasamgraha, and Kamalashila's commentary on it. She nimbly draws out the twists and turns of their argumentation and their shifting definition of omniscience, and formulates a compelling theory of reason as rhetoric. Even logic, she argues, is designed to persuade, and thus every argument has to be understood in relation to its intended audience. The study is an elegant exposition of what happens when a tradition that prides itself on rational argument inherits a wildly irrational doctrinal position and uses it to defend and advance the tradition."-- "Buddhadharma"

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Non-Fiction Religion & Beliefs Buddhism Religion Philosophy of Religion

Preface	p. XIII
Introduction	p. 1
The Rhetoric of Reason	p. 4
Reason, Rhetoric, and Omniscience	p. 11
Buddhist Philosophia	p. 14
The Contours of Omniscience in India	p. 23
Omniscience in the Pali Texts and the Theravada Tradition	p. 28
Mahasamghika and Sarvastivada Perspectives on Omniscience	p. 32
Mahayana Developments in Theories of the Buddha's Omniscience	p. 34
Models of Omniscience in the Tattvasamgraha and the Pañjika	p. 35
Omniscience and Religious Authority	p. 38
The Path Ahead	p. 42
The Rhetorical Complexity of the Texts	p. 47
Audience	p. 49
The Actual Intended Audience	p. 52
The Ideal Audience	p. 58
Styles of Reasoning and Argumentation	p. 63
Arguments ad personam and Arguments ad hominem	p. 63
Nyaya Reasoning	p. 67
Pramana Theory	p. 73
The Sliding Scale of Analysis	p. 85
Scholastic Reasoning: Negotiating Tradition and Innovation	p. 91
Structure of the Tattvasamgraha and the Panjika	p. 95
Analysis of Dependent Arising	p. 98
Analysis of Religious Authority	p. 102
Purposes of the Tattvasamgraha and the Pañjika	p. 105
Kamalasila's Presentation of the Purpose	p. 105
Kamalasila's Analysis of the Purpose	p. 109
Dogmas, Connotations, and Contexts	p. 113
Dogmas of Omniscience and Buddhahood	p. 113
The Requirement of Great Compassion	p. 116
The Perfection of the Aims of Self and Other	p. 119
The Two Obscurations	p. 123
Summary	p. 131
Connotations	p. 132
Assessing Dharmakirti's Position on Total Omniscience	p. 135
The Tattvasamgraha and the Pañjika on Dharmic and Total Omniscience	p. 138
The Shifting Nature of the Objects of Knowledge	p. 141
Rhetorical Contexts	p. 144
A Strictly Rhetorical Context	p. 145
Two Rhetorical Contexts with Specific Addresses	p. 147
The Final Chapter of the Tattvasamgraha and the Pañjika	p. 148
Audience and Styles of Reasoning in the Final Chapter	p. 151
Structure of the Final Chapter (1): Purvapaksa	p. 152
Structure of the Final Chapter (2): Uttrarapaksa	p. 156
Details of the Structure of the Uttarapaksa	p. 157
Relations Among the Four Arguments	p. 159
The "Investigation of External Objects"	p. 162
Omniscience is Possible: The General Demonstration	p. 165
Rebutting Kumarila's Refutation of Omniscience	p. 165
Refuting that Dharma Is Radically Inaccessible	p. 166
Refuting that Any Pramana Can Disprove Omniscience	p. 170
Perception Cannot Refute Omniscience	p. 173
Inference Cannot Refute Omniscience	p. 179
The Other Pramana Cannot Refute Omniscience	p. 184
The Nonperception of an Omniscient Being is Not Certain	p. 185
Conclusion: It Is Best to Let There Be Doubt	p. 186
Demonstrating that Omniscience Is Possible	p. 187
Inference of Capacity: Karyanumana and Sambhavatpramana	p. 188
Ignorance as the Vision of a Self	p. 191
The Antidote to Ignorance: The Vision of Selflessness	p. 195
The Vision of Selflessness as Yogic Perception	p. 199
Response to Objections Concerning the Antidote	p. 200
The Perfectibility of the Vision of Selflessness	p. 208
The Nature of the Mind: Luminous and Seeing Reality	p. 212
Conclusion: The Perfection of Wisdom Is Possible	p. 219
Demonstrating Total Omniscience	p. 221
The Logic of Perfectibility	p. 221
Omniscience as Knowing the Selflessness that Pervades All Things	p. 223
The Apoha Theory and Yogic Perception	p. 226
An Equivocation in the Term All Dharmas?	p. 229
Conclusion: Omniscience as Reflexive Awareness	p. 234
Omniscience Is Actual: The Specific Demonstration	p. 237
The Subject of the Debate: Supersensible Seeing	p. 238
The Buddha as a Knower of the Hidden Capacities of Mantras	p. 241
The Sadhya is Supersensible Seeing on Mimamsaka Terms	p. 246
Overview of the Specific Demonstration	p. 246
The Status of Verbal Testimony	p. 253
A Tension in the Specific Demonstration	p. 256
Dharmakirti on Inferring Mental Qualities	p. 258
Santaraksita and Kamalasila on Inferring Mental Qualities	p. 262
The Term Srngagrahikaya in the Pañjika	p. 264
Acknowledging that the Buddha May Not Have Been First	p. 268
The Specific Demonstration as a Corollary of the General	p. 271
Who Can Infer the Buddha's Omniscience?	p. 272
Reconciling the Two Interpretations	p. 276
Supplemental Arguments in the Demonstration	p. 277
The Buddha's Omniscience Is Attested in the Veda	p. 277
The Buddha's Compassion as a Mark of His Superiority	p. 280
Motives for the Two Demonstrations	p. 285
Motives for the General Demonstration	p. 286
Trustworthy Awareness as a Justification of Action	p. 286
Doubt as a Justification for Action	p. 291
Faith and Judicious Persons	p. 299
Summation: Motives for the General Demonstration	p. 303
Motives for the Specific Demonstration	p. 303
First Hypothesis: Causing Judicious Persons to Go for Refuge	p. 305
Second Hypothesis: Grounding Buddhist Scriptures	p. 307
The Circular Approach	p. 311
The Linear Approach	p. 314
The Problem with the Linear Approach	p. 315
The Presentation of Scripturally Based Inference	p. 317
The Provisional Nature of Scripturally Based Inference	p. 324
Some Explicit Statements on the Motive Behind the Proof	p. 327
Faith in Radically Inaccessible Entities	p. 332
Scripturally Based Inference as a Rhetorical Tool	p. 337
Summation of Findings Concerning the Second Hypothesis	p. 339
Third Hypothesis: Writing for Non-Buddhists	p. 339
Résumé of the Three Hypotheses	p. 342
Motives for the Demonstration of Total Omniscience	p. 343
Spontaneous Omniscience and the Perfection of Reason	p. 347
Spontaneous Omniscience	p. 349
The Perfection of Reason?	p. 359
Bibliography	p. 361
Abbreviations	p. 361
Primary Sources	p. 363
Secondary Sources	p. 375
Index of Translated Passages	p. 401
General Index	p. 407
About the Author	p. 419
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Omniscience and the Rhetoric of Reason

Rationality, Argumentation, and Religious Authority in Santaraksita's Tattvasamgraha and Kamalasila's Panjika

At a Glance

Paperback

Industry Reviews

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