Dharmakīrti on Persons

Parimal G. Patil (Harvard University)

One of two keynote talks as part of the 20th Annual Toronto Graduate Philosophy Conference. Please see the event page for the full schedule and Zoom link.

Parimal Patil (Harvard), "Dharmakīrti on Persons"

Saturday, May 22

1:00–3:00 PM EDT

Abstract: Almost everyone is taught that Buddhist philosophers deny the existence of persisting entities such as persons and selves. And yet, from the work of Indian Buddhist philosophers we learn of Buddhists who accepted their existence. This paper focuses on the Buddhist philosopher Dharmakīrti's (ca. 550-650) arguments against this view, which I call,  "Buddhist Personalism." After sketching the broader historical and philosophical context in which this debate took place, I provide a generic reconstruction of Buddhist Personalism and the arguments that Personalists offer in support of it. I then present two lines of argument that Dharmakīrti develops against Personalism: His "anti-emergence" argument and his "anti-agency" argument. Finally, I argue that the success of Dharmakīrti's arguments depends on the plausibility of his (implausible) views on constitution and identity.