Early Buddhist Metaphysics: The Making of a Philosophical Tradition (Routlegecurzon Critical Studies in Buddhism) [Hardcover]

Noa Ronkin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 19, 2005 | Series: Routlegecurzon Critical Studies in Buddhism

Early Buddhist Metaphysics provides a philosophical account of the major doctrinal shift in the history of early Theravada tradition in India: the transition from the earliest stratum of Buddhist thought to the systematic and allegedly scholastic philosophy of the Pali Abhidhamma movement. Entwining comparative philosophy and Buddhology, the author probes the Abhidhamma's metaphysical transition in terms of the Aristotelian tradition and vis-à-vis modern philosophy, exploits Western philosophical literature from Plato to contemporary texts in the fields of philosophy of mind and cultural criticism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

[...] This brief and simplified summary does not do justice to the richness of the book's contents. The author often uses methods of comparative philosophy of religion and draws on later Buddhist systems of philosophy, non-Buddhist Indian sources and also on achievements of western philosophical inquiries and Buddhological scholarship. [The] references to those variegated materials [...] are always well chosen and are good pointers for reflection and stimulants for further research. Immaculate references to primary sources and secondary literature would considerably facilitate follow-up research as would the extensive bibliography.

Karel Werner, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London --Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Series 3, 16, 1, 2006

[...Ronkin] employs two main strategies in addition to straightforward exegesis of Buddhist texts. First, she considers the development of Buddhist thought within a wider context of the history of Indian ideas, providing helpful accounts of particular Buddhist ideas in relation to developments in Indian thought more generally, but especially the Vaisesika school. Secondly, she elucidates the general philosophical ideas under discussion -- substance, process, events, categories, individuation, causality -- by reference to Western philosophical debate both historical and contemporary.

In both these respects her study is a model of academic method and provides an essential resource for anyone interested in the development of Indian Buddhist philosophy. [...] There is no doubt that Noa Ronkin's book makes an important contribution to the scholarly discussion of these issues, shifting it to a new model of sophistication.

--Rupert Gethin, University of Bristol --Buddhist Studies Review, Vol. 22, 2005

'The author often uses methods of comparative philosophy of religion and draws on later Buddhist systems of philosophy, non-Buddhist Indian sources and also on achievements of western philosophical inquiries and Buddhological scholarship.]...[ the references...are always well chosen and are good pointers for reflection and stimulants for further research.'- Karel Werner, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London,Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

About the Author

Noa Ronkin received her PhD from the University of Oxford. She is currently Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Buddhist Studies, Stanford University. Her research interests include a range of issues associated with Indian Theravada Buddhist philosophy and psychology, the Abhidhamma tradition and comparative Indian philosophy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (April 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415345197
• ISBN-13: 978-0415345194
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,321,642 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From Suttanta to Abhidhamma, October 7, 2008

By 

Hermit "Now&Zen" (Winona, MS United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Early Buddhist Metaphysics: The Making of a Philosophical Tradition (Routlegecurzon Critical Studies in Buddhism) (Hardcover)

My fingers tremble over the keyboard at the prospect of reviewing this amazingly sophisticated book, but there come times when somebody has to say something! My five star rating is intended only for those who are so seriously disturbed as to pay the high price for this book, and then undertake reading the densely written essays concerning the minute and numerous points of evolving Buddhist thought. The subject matter is necessarily elusive and difficult, and despite Ronkin's fine essay skills, I could handle only about ten pages per day.

At issue here are the great inconsistencies of principles that developed from the Early Buddhism of the Suttas into the highly scholasticized Abhidhamma literature. If this obscure topic interests you, I suggest you use Amazon's book search facility to explore the last chapter, "Concluding Reflections", which is a jaw dropper to ye true believers. To come to the point, those who made religion and philosophy out of the Buddha's teachings managed to reinstall revised versions of the Brahmanic essentialism and substantialism that the Buddha spent his life trying to overturn. That is the bottom line, but Ronkin traces these developments in such well reasoned detail as to provoke in the reader both amazement and agony. Her concluding idea is that principles that are valid in one philosophical category (such as epitomology) get dragged into other categories (such as ontology) where they do not belong. It is like realizing that some Biblebanger has gotten hold of The Constitution of the US and written his own stuff in to it. (My analogy, not Ronkin's, as her writing style for this book is very succinct and formal. You have to read carefully, because she won't tell you anything twice.)

The book is based on Ronkin's Oxford thesis in philosophy, and she did a thorough job of converting the thesis into a reasonably readable book, dropping in helpful hints at exactly the right places for The Great Unwashed, such as myself. Comparing various Pali writings, Ronkin relys heavily on her ability to analyze the nuances of the writer's Pali grammar and draw out the unspecified implications of his philosophical positions. Ronkin frequently resorts to Rupert Gethin and Sue Hamilton for technical support and points of reference.