Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

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MMK the Middle Way is described as: “What arises dependently (pratityasamutpada) is pronounced to be substancelessness (sunyata). This is nothing but a dependent concept (prajnapti). Substancelessness (sunyata) constitutes the middle way”. [MMK: chapter 24, verse 18] Nagarjuna's view consists principally of two aspects. The first is an exposition of his view of reality (sunyata, pratityasamutpada), according to which reality has no firm core and does not consist of independent, substantial components. Reality is rather a system of two-bodies or many bodies which reciprocally affect each other [3]. This view of reality is diametrically opposed to another key concept: ‘svabhava’, ‘own being’ or ‘inherent existence’, also known in the Greek tradition as ‘substance’. The second aspect of Nagarjuna’s philosophy is an answer to the inner contradictions of four extreme modes of thought which can be subsumed under the headings: ‘substantialism’, ‘subjectivism’, ‘holism’ and ‘instrumentalism’. My thesis is that these four modes of thought are unsustainable. (1) Substantialism Substance (or own being) is defined as something that has independent existence. [4] Substantialism is at the centre of traditional metaphysics, beginning with pre-Socratic philosophers, for example Parmenides and Heraclitus, who were two critics of substantial thought, and going right up to Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). Substance is considered to exist by itself, i.e. the unchangeable, eternal and underlying basis for the entire non-material foundation of the world in which we live. Plato (4th century BCE) made a
distinction between two forms of being in his Parmenides: on the one hand, singular objects which exist exclusively through participation without own being and, on the other hand, ideas that do have own being. Traditional metaphysics adopted Plato’s dualism. An independent own being is characterised as something that, as an existing thing is not dependent on anything else (Descartes); is existing by itself and subsisting through itself (More); is completely unlimited by others and free from any kind of foreign command (Spinoza); and exists of itself without anything else (Schelling). The highest substance was often understood as God. Since Kant's ‘Copernican Revolution’ the primary question of philosophy has no longer been to comprehend reality, but rather to fathom the mind, i.e. the source of perception and knowledge. For this reason traditional metaphysics has lost ground in the modern world. In fact its central concepts, such as ‘substance’, ‘reality’, ‘essence’ and ‘being’ have been replaced by the reductionist modes of thought of modern science. Now ‘atoms’, ‘elementary particles’, ‘energy’, ‘fields of force’ and other concepts derived from the ‘laws of nature’ are viewed as the fundamental ground. (2) Subjectivism Subjectivism is the philosophical theory that all knowledge is subjective, and relative. According to René Descartes (1596-1650) consciousness is primarily existent and everything else is sheer content or form, a creation of consciousness. The summit of subjectivism is the idealism of George Berkeley (1685-1753). The subjectivism of Immanuel Kant can be considered as moderated idealism. Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900-2002) emphasises that
Page 1 and 2: Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysi
Page 3 and 4: 1.Summary The key terms. 1. Key ter
Page 5 and 6: ideas of substance or subject, two
Page 7: 2. Nagarjuna Preliminary note We sh
Page 11 and 12: (4) Instrumentalism Instead of favo
Page 13 and 14: 19. “That which has arisen depend
Page 15: A brief review of the 25 chapters o
Page 18 and 19: Chapter 2: A mover and the distance
Page 20 and 21: Chapter 10: Fire and fuel. Photogra
Page 22 and 23: Chapter 12: Suffering and the cause
Page 24 and 25: Chapter 13. A teenager and an aged
Page 26: Chapter 23. Pure and impure. Rio Ne
Page 29 and 30: A solar storm. Something is happeni
Page 31 and 32: sometimes three complementary bodie
Page 33 and 34: 5. The metaphysical foundations of
Page 35 and 36: Albert Einstein’s contribution to
Page 37 and 38: Niels Bohr’s contribution to the
Page 39 and 40: The atoms arrive in discrete lumps.
Page 41 and 42: Figure 1: In this Feynman diagram,
Page 43 and 44: centimeter) and are so weak that th
Page 45 and 46: philosophers and physicists have be
Page 47 and 48: What is reality? We have become acc
Page 49 and 50: 4. as an intermediate state by Roge
Page 51 and 52: Appendix 3: Alfred North Whitehead:
Page 53 and 54: of Miletus, alive at the date 600 B
Page 55 and 56: Christian scheme of salvation. Its
Page 57 and 58: accordance with his clear-cut intel
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seemingly obvious, are infected wit
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Of course in this action, and react
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temporal realization of ideas. The
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qualification not to be analyzed in
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Plato, the mathematician, for long
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now that it is dead, it is stone-de
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Italian Renaissance. In truth, they
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for the expression of high abstract
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particular observations. The other
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Greeks, Jews, and Muslims from such
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F.H. Bradley for instance, fall int
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merely that the equality of two and
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Alfred North Whitehead: Adventures
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occasions, can be validly used to s
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element shall have the character of
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that if there can be any intellectu
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The difference of ancients and mode
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course of such physical activities
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Section VIII. We have now reached t
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The common practice, interpreted by
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and in its forms. Thus we discover
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distinct meanings. It is to be reme
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This consideration is the basis of
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example consciousness, if it be pre
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together for common ends. Such unit
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monad can take account of another,
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facts and species are the product o
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adopted. Then the word Creativity e
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When a general idea has been obtain
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eality. The important invention of
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the correspondence between a model
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E. D. & Feldman, G. J. Quarkonium.
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8. Bibliography Bloom, E. D. & Feld
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'T Hooft, G. Symmetrien in der Phys
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Christian Thomas Kohl The Metaphysical Foundations of Buddhism and Modern Science

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