Buddhist Philosophy

Write a polished, textually grounded, and well-argued 5-7 page essay (double spaced, 12 pt. font) on one of the topics below, or an approved topic of your choice. For your essay to be “textually grounded,” you must engage substantively with the primary sources that are the focal point of our course. It is expected that at least one-third of your essay will be devoted to providing a careful account of the argument in one of these sources. Vasubandhu (Treasury) 1. In his “Treatise on the Negation of the Person,” Vasubandhu criticizes the account of person held by the Buddhist “Personalists.” Identify and explain Vasubandhu’s account of the “self” and the Personalists’ account of person and clarify the differing notions of dependence that are invoked, explaining how Vasubandhu’s “self” is dependent in a manner analogous to milk, while the person of the Personalists is dependent in a manner analogous to fire and fuel. Reconstruct Vasubandhu’s critique of the Personalist position. Evaluate Vasubandhu’s critique.