Library Catalog
Amazon cover image
Image from Amazon.com

Greek Buddha : Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia / Christopher I. Beckwith.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2015]Copyright date: ©2015Edition: Pilot project. eBook available to selected US libraries onlyDescription: 1 online resource (304 p.)Content type:
Media type:
Carrier type:
ISBN:
  • 9780691166445
  • 9781400866328
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 186.1 23
LOC classification:
  • B613
Other classification:
  • online - DeGruyter
Online resources: Available additional physical forms:
  • Issued also in print.
Contents:
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- On Transcription, Transliteration, and Texts -- Abbreviations -- Prologue. Scythian Philosophy: Pyrrho, the Persian Empire, and India -- Chapter 1. Pyrrho's Thought: Beyond Humanity -- Chapter 2. No Differentiations: The Earliest Attested Forms of Buddhism -- Chapter 3. Jade Yoga and Heavenly Dharma: Buddhist Thought in Classical Age China and India -- Chapter 4. Greek Enlightenment: What the Buddha, Pyrrho, and Hume Argue Against -- Epilogue. Pyrrho's Teacher: The Buddha and His Awakening -- Appendix A. The Classical Testimonies of Pyrrho's Thought -- Appendix B. Are Pyrrhonism and Buddhism Both Greek in Origin? -- Appendix C. On the Early Indian Inscriptions -- Endnotes -- References -- Index
Summary: Pyrrho of Elis went with Alexander the Great to Central Asia and India during the Greek invasion and conquest of the Persian Empire in 334-324 BC. There he met with early Buddhist masters. Greek Buddha shows how their Early Buddhism shaped the philosophy of Pyrrho, the famous founder of Pyrrhonian scepticism in ancient Greece.Christopher I. Beckwith traces the origins of a major tradition in Western philosophy to Gandhara, a country in Central Asia and northwestern India. He systematically examines the teachings and practices of Pyrrho and of Early Buddhism, including those preserved in testimonies by and about Pyrrho, in the report on Indian philosophy two decades later by the Seleucid ambassador Megasthenes, in the first-person edicts by the Indian king Devanampriya Priyadarsi referring to a popular variety of the Dharma in the early third century BC, and in Taoist echoes of Gautama's Dharma in Warring States China. Beckwith demonstrates how the teachings of Pyrrho agree closely with those of the Buddha Sakyamuni, "the Scythian Sage." In the process, he identifies eight distinct philosophical schools in ancient northwestern India and Central Asia, including Early Zoroastrianism, Early Brahmanism, and several forms of Early Buddhism. He then shows the influence that Pyrrho's brand of scepticism had on the evolution of Western thought, first in Antiquity, and later, during the Enlightenment, on the great philosopher and self-proclaimed Pyrrhonian, David Hume.Greek Buddha demonstrates that through Pyrrho, Early Buddhist thought had a major impact on Western philosophy.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number URL Status Notes Barcode
eBook eBook Biblioteca "Angelicum" Pont. Univ. S.Tommaso d'Aquino Nuvola online online - DeGruyter (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Online access Not for loan (Accesso limitato) Accesso per gli utenti autorizzati / Access for authorized users (dgr)9781400866328

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- On Transcription, Transliteration, and Texts -- Abbreviations -- Prologue. Scythian Philosophy: Pyrrho, the Persian Empire, and India -- Chapter 1. Pyrrho's Thought: Beyond Humanity -- Chapter 2. No Differentiations: The Earliest Attested Forms of Buddhism -- Chapter 3. Jade Yoga and Heavenly Dharma: Buddhist Thought in Classical Age China and India -- Chapter 4. Greek Enlightenment: What the Buddha, Pyrrho, and Hume Argue Against -- Epilogue. Pyrrho's Teacher: The Buddha and His Awakening -- Appendix A. The Classical Testimonies of Pyrrho's Thought -- Appendix B. Are Pyrrhonism and Buddhism Both Greek in Origin? -- Appendix C. On the Early Indian Inscriptions -- Endnotes -- References -- Index

restricted access online access with authorization star

http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec

Pyrrho of Elis went with Alexander the Great to Central Asia and India during the Greek invasion and conquest of the Persian Empire in 334-324 BC. There he met with early Buddhist masters. Greek Buddha shows how their Early Buddhism shaped the philosophy of Pyrrho, the famous founder of Pyrrhonian scepticism in ancient Greece.Christopher I. Beckwith traces the origins of a major tradition in Western philosophy to Gandhara, a country in Central Asia and northwestern India. He systematically examines the teachings and practices of Pyrrho and of Early Buddhism, including those preserved in testimonies by and about Pyrrho, in the report on Indian philosophy two decades later by the Seleucid ambassador Megasthenes, in the first-person edicts by the Indian king Devanampriya Priyadarsi referring to a popular variety of the Dharma in the early third century BC, and in Taoist echoes of Gautama's Dharma in Warring States China. Beckwith demonstrates how the teachings of Pyrrho agree closely with those of the Buddha Sakyamuni, "the Scythian Sage." In the process, he identifies eight distinct philosophical schools in ancient northwestern India and Central Asia, including Early Zoroastrianism, Early Brahmanism, and several forms of Early Buddhism. He then shows the influence that Pyrrho's brand of scepticism had on the evolution of Western thought, first in Antiquity, and later, during the Enlightenment, on the great philosopher and self-proclaimed Pyrrhonian, David Hume.Greek Buddha demonstrates that through Pyrrho, Early Buddhist thought had a major impact on Western philosophy.

Issued also in print.

Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.

In English.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Jul 2021)