Papers by Hans-Rudolf Kantor
Dao Companion to Chinese Buddhist Philosophy, 2018
The discourse on epistemological, ontological, and linguistic issues in the Zhuangzi and in Guo X... more The discourse on epistemological, ontological, and linguistic issues in the Zhuangzi and in Guo Xiang’s (252–312) commentary influenced Sengzhao’s (374–414) reception and interpretation of Indian Madhyamaka thought introduced to the Chinese literati by Kumārajīva (343–413), the famous translator from the Wei Jin period and Sengzhao’s Buddhist master.
The following analyzes the linguistic strategy and rhetorical function of contradiction and ambig... more The following analyzes the linguistic strategy and rhetorical function of contradiction and ambiguity in Chinese Buddhist texts. These are compositional patterns designed to enhance and promote the soteriological intention of Mahayana Buddhism, which essentially aims at our detachment from falseness. Mahayana ”emptiness” (sunyatā) implies that attachments are not only obscured but also produced by conventional linguistic habits. Consequently, the verbal realization of this insight must-as the Chinese Buddhist thinker Seng Zhao (384-414) states-defy the conventions of a univocal form of articulation. The implicit ambiguity of Buddhist texts means they should not be understood as a manifestation of apodictic statements, for it rather functions in a practical way to undermine the reader's potential to become attached. Chinese Mahayana traditions, then, consider linguistic expression in an ambivalent way: on the one hand as a source of unwholesome attachments, on the other as a prec...
Dao Companion to Chinese Buddhist Philosophy, 2018
This chapter discusses and examines the deconstructive practice of Tiantai contemplation from a p... more This chapter discusses and examines the deconstructive practice of Tiantai contemplation from a philosophical point of view. The scope of this examination embraces all the Tiantai doctrines that describe the dynamics and epistemological nature of ultimate realization, called “subtle awakening” (miaowu 妙悟), as well as all the relevant Buddhist sources based on which Tiantai master Zhiyi (智顗 538–597) developed this type of “contemplation” (guan 觀). According to the Tiantai view, epistemological and ontological issues coincide with one another, since contemplation entails our insight that “truth and falsehood are inseparable” concerning the way we relate to and exist in our world. Therefore, (1) the introduction deals with the question of the specific sense in which Tiantai contemplation must be grounded in deconstructive practice. The subsequent two sections, (2) and (3), elaborate the epistemological and soteriological implications of this Buddhist teaching; section (4) and (5) discuss its linguistic pragmatics; (6) and (7) highlight the ontological and hermeneutical issues, and (8) elaborates on the Tiantai philosophy of mind.
Although technical terms often represent unambiguous meanings, the crucial expression �emptiness&... more Although technical terms often represent unambiguous meanings, the crucial expression �emptiness' in Mahāyāna Buddhist traditions is likely to serve a soteriological function. The doctrine of emptiness seems to be intended to detach our linguistic expression from the unwholesome influence of illusory assumptions; assumptions of which we are not aware in our referential acts. Buddhist texts often reveal our linguistic habits as the very root of inverse views inflicting unwholesome results on our existence. On the other hand, Buddhists also believe that there is a mode of expression which initiates the transformation from the unwholesome into the wholesome. It is a mode of expression which causes us to become aware of the falseness inherent to linguistic expression. Consequently, Mahāyāna traditions treat and utilize linguistic expression in an ambiguous way; that is not only as the source of the unwholesome but also as the very impulse initiating its transformation into the oppos...
Transcendence, Immanence, and Intercultural Philosophy, 2016
This chapter deals with the denial of the ontological sense of transcendence from a Chinese Buddh... more This chapter deals with the denial of the ontological sense of transcendence from a Chinese Buddhist point of view. Buddhist sources usually emphasize that everything we encounter or experience in the world we inhabit comes to our attention as a referent of our own intentional acts. This implies that all things and events are compound phenomena, built upon a manifoldness of interrelated components. The technical term for this is called “conditioned co-arising” (Sanskrit: pratītya-samutpāda, Chinese: yuanqi 緣起) and it means that there is no thing which arises apart from a relation of mutual dependence between itself and other things.
Asiatische Studien - Études Asiatiques, 2020
A crucial feature of Tiantai (天台) Buddhist thought certainly is its elaboration on the hidden and... more A crucial feature of Tiantai (天台) Buddhist thought certainly is its elaboration on the hidden and visible, called “root and traces” (ben ji 本跡), as the concept of non-duality (bu er 不二) of these opposites is part of what constitutes the highest level of Buddhist doctrine in Tiantai doxography, called “round/ perfect teaching” (yuanjiao 圓教). Such elaboration is inextricably bound up with paradoxical discourse, which functions as a linguistic strategy in Tiantai practice of liberating the mind from its self-induced deceptions. Observation of paradoxes in the elaboration on the hidden and visible could be called practice qua doctrinal exegesis, because Tiantai masters try to integrate self-referential observation in mind-contemplation (guanxin 觀心) with interpretation of sūtra and śāstra. For Tiantai Buddhists, the ultimate meaning of the Buddhadharma (fofa 佛法) itself is independent from speech and script and only accessible to the liberated mind, yet it cannot fully be comprehended and...
Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2017
The Chinese Mādhyamikas Seng Zhao 374–414, Jizang 549–623, and Zhiyi 538–597 try to demonstrate t... more The Chinese Mādhyamikas Seng Zhao 374–414, Jizang 549–623, and Zhiyi 538–597 try to demonstrate that the linguistic strategies in the textual transmission of the Buddha’s teaching give us access to a sense of “liberation” which reaches beyond language. For them, this ineffable sense is what constitutes the dharma in the shape of sūtra and śāstra. Liberation is considered the constitutive but hidden “root” of all the teachings transmitted via the canonical word, those again account for the Buddha’s “traces” guiding back to the meaning of that root. The practitioner’s comprehension of the dharma must embrace this circular mutuality of “root and traces,” reconciling speech with silence. The article discusses two philosophical aspects: (1) Chinese Madhyamaka semantics and pragmatics exploring the various signifying functions in our use of language, and (2) the hermeneutical approach that the Chinese masters develop in their exegetical works to unravel such a sense of “liberation” in reference to the textual transmission of Indian Mahāyāna thought.
Philosophy East and West, 2014
Academic studies of Chinese Buddhist views of language generally focus on issues such as paradox,... more Academic studies of Chinese Buddhist views of language generally focus on issues such as paradox, contradiction, and the limits of expression and thought. However, such studies seldom seem to focus on the fact that many Buddhist texts deliberately use an ambiguous mode of linguistic expression, one that actually constitutes their compositional patterns and is designed to enhance and promote the Mahāyāna Buddhist soteriological goal, namely liberation from suffering via detachment from falseness. In fact, many of the treatises and exegetical commentaries of the Chinese masters develop a textual pragmatics rooted in the ambiguous and paradoxical rhetoric of early Madhyamaka scriptures translated by Kumārajīva (344–413). This essay discusses the philosophical and soteriological significance of such a linguistic-textual pragmatics as we find it in the early Chinese Madhyamaka scriptures.
Philosophy East and West, 2006
2' *))%' +, +(&+3+40 *( 2*0* ) *#(&#* &'#52*(4 *) &2' 5'(&... more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
Journal of Chinese Philosophy, 2011
Asian Philosophy, 2010
‘Right words are like the reverse’ is the concluding remark of chap. 78 in the Daoist classic Dao... more ‘Right words are like the reverse’ is the concluding remark of chap. 78 in the Daoist classic Daodejing. Quoted in treatises composed by Seng Zhao (374–414), it designates the linguistic strategy used to unfold the Buddhist Madhyamaka meaning of ‘emptiness’ and ‘ultimate truth’. In his treatise Things Do not Move, Seng Zhao demonstrates that ‘motion and stillness’ are not really contradictory, performing the deconstructive meaning of Buddhist ‘emptiness’ via the corresponding linguistic strategy. Though the topic of the discussion and the rhetoric are borrowed from Daoist sources, the point of view is rooted in the Buddhist understanding. The first section of this paper deals with the issue of exegetical methods in early Chinese Buddhism; the subsequent part explains both the Daoist background and the topics modified in Seng Zhao's discussions; the third part analyzes Seng Zhao's linguistic strategy and expounds its particular philosophical significance.
Religions, 2021
This article reconstructs the Chinese “practice qua exegesis” which evolved out of the doxographi... more This article reconstructs the Chinese “practice qua exegesis” which evolved out of the doxographical appropriation of the Indian Buddhist catuṣkoṭi (four edges), a heuristic device for conceptual analysis and a method of assorting linguistic forms to which adherents of Madhyamaka ascribed ambiguous potential. It could conceptually clarify Buddhist doctrine, but also produce deceptive speech. According to the Chinese interpreters, conceptual and linguistic forms continue to be deceptive until the mind realizes that all it holds on or distinguishes itself from is its own fabrication. Liberation from such self-induced deceptions requires awareness of the paradox that the desire to leave them behind is itself a way of clinging to them. Chinese Sanlun and Tiantai masters tried to uncover this paradox and to disclose to practitioners how the application of the catuṣkoṭi, on the basis of such awareness, enables proper conceptual analysis in exegesis. From this approach followed the Chinese...
China Review International
Journal of Indian Philosophy
Journal of Chinese Philosophy
Uploads
Papers by Hans-Rudolf Kantor