This book contains slightly revised lectures presented by K.R. Norman in 1994. The lectures, which outlined the role of philology in the academic study of early Buddhism, were intended for an audience which knew something about Buddhism but little or nothing about philology. Notes have been added for the general reader, rather than the specialist. Norman's career has been devoted to the study of Pali texts. These lectures provide his perspective on a number of general themes fundamental to undertanding the development of early Buddhism. They set out clearly the important role Pali philology must play in any serious academic study of early Buddhism. Note: Pariyatti Bookstore can ship Pali Text Society publications to countries in the Americas only (North, Central and South America, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.)
This is a corrected and 'slightly revised' edition of a lecture series published by the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1997 as volume five of the 'Buddhist Forum' series. K.R. Norman's lectures outline the role of philology in the academic study of early Buddhism. There are ten lectures:
1. Buddhism and philology 2. Buddhism and its origins 3. Buddhism and oral tradition 4. Buddhism and regional dialects 5. Buddhism and writing 6. Buddhism and Sanskritisation 7. Buddhism and Asoka 8. Buddhism and canonicity 9. Buddhism and the commentarial tradition 10. Philology and Buddhism
The lectures deal lucidly with some of the key questions of early Buddhist textual history.
Pali Text Society publications are meant to be enduring works of reference. It is therefore regrettable that the two publications are marred by a number of formatting problems, such as wrong headers.
