Early Buddhist Metaphysics

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.

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.

Introduction: Situating Theravådin Doctrinal Thought: Towards a Comparative Buddhist Philosophy  1. The Further Teaching: Abhidhamma Thought in Context  2. What the Buddha Taught and Abhidhamma Thought: From Dhamma  3. The Development of the Concept of Sabhåva and Buddhist  4. Individuals: Revisiting the Abhidhamma Dhamma Theory  5. Causation as the Handmaid of Metaphysics: From the Paticcasamuppåda to the Patthåna  Concluding Reflections