Dacarya Candrakirti, a Buddhist Mahayana philosopher from the early seventh century, was largely responsible for establishing the Prasangika branch of the Madhyamika school. This system, distinguished primarily for its views on logic and epistemology, is examined with the aim of explaining the nature of the dispute between its proponents and those of the Svatantrika system, the other major branch of the Madhyamika school. The Prasangikas were also the only group within the Mahayana tradition which maintained that Hinayanists must also realize sunyata or voidness in order to achieve their goal of individual liberation. However, the primary topic of the dissertation concerns the unique manner in which Acarya Candrakirti interpreted the Buddhist doctrine of pudgala-nairatmya, or the insubstantiality of the self.
The dissertation itself is comprised of two parts. Part One begins with an analysis of several fundamental concepts of Candrakirti's system in order to explain the basis for his rejection of the most widely accepted Buddhist explanation of the ”no-self” teaching. That standard account is described with the aid of passages from several classical Buddhist works, including Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakosa, Bhavaviveka's Tarkajvala, and Kamalasila's Tattvasamgrahapanjika. Having described the standard view, it is shown that Candrakirti's own analysis differs in several significant respects. In essence, he denied that the self is either identical with, or different from, the skandhas or heaps. The main arguments presented by him against both non-Buddhist and Buddhist theories of self are examined, followed by a discussion of his own explanation of the self's nature. Candrakirti's account of the conventional self relies heavily on his explanation of the Mahayana doctrine of Two Truths. His explanation of the self's ultimate nature asserts that it is void of any real essence, and interpretation that is distinct from all other Buddhist philosophical schools.
Part Two consists of a translation of a section from the sixth chapter of Candrakirti's Madhyamakavatarabhasya which contains the most extensive and complete discussion of his views on the nature of the self.
