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A Teleological Mode of Conditionality in Early Buddhism |
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| Author |
Jones, Dhivan Thomas
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| Source |
International Journal of Buddhist Thought & Culture=국제불교문화사상사학회
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| Volume | v.29 n.2 |
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| Date | 2019.12 |
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| Pages | 119 - 149 |
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| Publisher | International Association for Buddhist Thought and Culture |
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| Publisher Url |
http://iabtc.org/
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| Location | Seoul, Korea [首爾, 韓國] |
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| Content type | 期刊論文=Journal Article |
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| Language | 英文=English |
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| Note | Dhivan Thomas JONES teaches Buddhism and philosophy at the University of Chester. His main research interest is the topic of dependent arising (paṭicca-samuppāda) in early Buddhism. |
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| Keyword | conditionality; dependent-arising; causality; upanisā; teleology |
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| Abstract | In addition to the twelve links (nidānas) of dependent arising (paṭicca-samuppāda), early Buddhist texts record a series of stages of the path to awakening, called “preconditions” (upanisās), which in the Pāli Upanisā Sutta (S 12: 23; pts ii.29–31) are joined in one series. Modern western Buddhists take this one series to imply that nidānas and upanisās exemplify an over-arching principle of conditionality. In this article I argue that the upanisās exemplify a distinctively teleological mode of conditionality. I investigate (i) the images of a tree coming to full growth and rain
flowing to the seas used to illustrate the upanisās, (ii) the distinctly goal-directed language used in relation to the stages of the path, and finally (iii), I propose, via a discussion of Aristotle on teleology, that the upanisās represent a teleological mode of conditionality, such that each stage of the path becomes the condition for the next,
in relation to an aim or goal of awakening. I argue that the series of upanisās has a normative, rather than phenomenological, character, and I compare the series to a recipe. I conclude with the suggestion that the similarity between upanisās and nidānas lies in their being necessary conditions, and that this similarity constitutes a “family
resemblance” (in Wittgenstein’s phrase). The over-arching principle of conditionality is not a feature of reality over and above such a family resemblance. |
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| Table of contents | Abstract
Introduction 121
Trees Growing and Water Flowing: Images of Full Development 123
The Use of Language in Relation to Preconditions 128
The Concept of A Teleological Mode of Conditionality 132
Conclusion 138
References 147 |
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| ISSN | 15987914 (P) |
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| DOI | 10.16893/IJBTC.2019.06.29.2.119 |
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| Hits | 141 |
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| Created date | 2021.03.10 |
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| Modified date | 2021.03.10 |
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