Admission requirements
Admission to this course is restricted to:
BA students in Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives, who have successfully completed at least 70 ECTS credits of the mandatory components of the first and second year of their bachelor’s programme, including Philosophical Skills and one of the following combinations: Concepts of Selfhood and at least one of the components World Philosophies: China, India, Middle East or Africa OR Language and Thought and World Philosophies: Greek and Roman Antiquity.
BA students in Filosofie, who have successfully completed at least 70 ECTS credits of the mandatory components of the first and second year of their bachelor’s programme, including Filosofische vaardigheden and one of the following combinations: Philosophy of Mind and Comparative Philosophy OR Griekse en Romeinse filosofie and Medieval Philosophy.
Pre-master’s students in Philosophy who are in possession of an admission statement and who have to complete an advanced seminar.
Description
This course is an introduction to the Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophical schools of Madhyamaka and Yogācāra. Topics may vary somewhat depending on the semester but will usually include an introduction to the foundational Madhyamaka philosophers, Nāgārjuna and Candrakīrti, as well as the Yogācāra philosopher, Vasubandhu. Additional figures who may be treated may include Asaṅga and Śāntideva. Topics to be considered will include how to best characterize Madhyamaka metaphysics, for instance as a kind of antirealism, or skepticism, and whether early Yogācāra thought is best understood as arguing for a metaphysical idealism or is better characterized as a kind of introspective phenomenology. Additional topics may include the relation between early Buddhist ideas and the Madhyamaka and Yogācāra schools, as well as the ethical implications of emptiness. Texts to be read may include Nāgārjuna’s Root Verses on the Middle Way (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā), Candrakīrti’s Introduction to the Middle Way (Madhyamakāvatāra), Vasubandhu’s 20 Verses on Consciousness Only (Vimsatika-Karika), and Vasubandhu’s Treatise on Three Natures (Trisvabhāvanirdeśa).
Course objectives
Students who successfully complete the course will have:
a basic understanding of the insights of many of the most influential schools of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy;
basic familiarity with the historical background out of which Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophical debates arose.
Students who successfully complete the course will be able to:
engage with philosophical reasoning and arguments presented by authors of the most influential schools of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy;
interact with philosophical ideas on a higher level, both in active participation during class, and in written work in the form of short essay assignments.
Timetable
The timetables are available through MyTimetable.
Mode of instruction
- Seminar.
Class attendance is required.
Assessment method
Assessment
Active Participation/cooperation in class/group;
Essay, paper;
Abstract, oral presentation.
Weighing
Participation and presentation (20%);
Essay proposal (10%);
Final essay (70%).
The final mark for the course is established by determining the weighted average. To pass the course, the weighted average of the partial grades must be 5.5 or higher.
Resit
The resit consists of the final essay (70%). The mark for the resit covers the previously earned mark for the final paper only. The grades for the essay proposal and for participation and class presentation remain in place. Students who have obtained a satisfactory grade for the first examination cannot take the resit.
Inspection and feedback
How and when an exam review will take place will be disclosed together with the publication of the exam results at the latest. If a student requests a review within 30 days after publication of the exam results, an exam review will have to be organized.
Reading list
Required readings will be announced through Brightspace.
Registration
Enrolment through MyStudyMap is mandatory.
General information about course and exam enrolment is available on the website.
Contact
For substantive questions, contact the lecturer listed in the right information bar.
For questions about enrolment, admission, etc, contact the Education Administration Office: Huizinga.
Remarks
Not applicable.