Emptiness Appraised

The Buddhist concept of “emptiness” (sunyata), is central to much Buddhist thought. It can be used in many contexts by different thinkers or schools, with a variety meanings. This work is a comparative study of all the meanings and uses of the notion of emptyness throughout the history of Buddhism. This book is an examination of the philosophy and meanings of emptiness as expressed in Nagarjuna, a second-century Indian Buddhist thinker. Nagarjuna is best known for founding the Madhyamika School, which was a school that had a significant influence on Tibetan and Chinese Mahayana Buddhism. Famously, many interpretations of Nagarjuna’s philosophy on emptiness have been offered. The study of Nagarjuna’s philosophy on emptiness has two main concerns. This study focuses on the first concern, which is to determine the meanings or possible meanings of Nagarjuna’s philosophy of emptyness. Critical analysis is the second main concern. It was necessary to assess Nagarjuna’s philosophy. Few books on Nagarjuna go beyond exposition to evaluate. This study has made this step. This study will be useful and interesting to scholars and students of Buddhism as well as philosophers.