Sensory perception, body and mind in Indian Buddhist philosophy

Abstract

The Buddha’s conception of the nature of sentient beings being without a substantial and lasting core gave rise to interpretations in subsequent Buddhist philosophical traditions that often appear surprisingly modern. In general, his usage of defined abstract notions was prudently limited for the most part, however, to those necessary for presenting soteriological and practical teachings. But this approach proved to be philosophically prolific. Basic concepts and theorems were soon developed into rich scholasticist systems of ontology and psychology, which were followed by a normative epistemology that focussed on the kinds of cognition that can warrant valid knowledge. The relationship between mind or mental phenomena and the body was elaborately discussed with different proponents of Indian Materialism in order to prove the correctness of the Buddha’s analysis of the empirical person. By means of examples this paper will offer a survey of the concept of the senses, their nature and function according to a particular system of mainstream Buddhism, as well as of the ideas about the relationship between mental phenomena and the material body as can be seen in the attempt of the influential philosopher Dharmakirti to refute the reductionistic explanation of consciousness.