With or Without the Self? Arguments in Favor of the Hindu Concept of the Atman over the Buddhist Understanding of the Anatman

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Published: Sep 19, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.12681/cjp.25053
Keywords:
comparative philosophy Hinduism Atman The Upanishads Buddhism Anatman The Dhammapada
Rocco Angelo Astore
CUNY: Borough of Manhattan Community College
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5126-0211
Abstract
As found in the Upanishads, readers come to encounter many ideas regarding the “Self” as opposed to the “self,” or the Atman versus the atman. Now, complicating matters further readers encounter the antithetical concept, of the Atman and atman, or the Buddhists understanding of the anatman as found in the Dhammapada. First, this piece will unpack the idea of both the “Self” and the “self,” or the Atman and the atman, as understood in Hindu philosophy and theology. Next, this essay will then describe the Buddhists understanding of anatman, or the absence, or emptiness of the self, or the nullification of the self, or the atman as well as even of the Self, or the Atman. Finally, this piece will resolve by arguing in favor of the Self, or the Atman as well as the self, or atman over the Buddha’s notion of the anatman.
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Author Biography
Rocco Angelo Astore, CUNY: Borough of Manhattan Community College
Rocco A. Astore is an adjunct lecturer of philosophy at CUNY: BMCC. His interests include Ancient and Early-Modern Philosophy, particularly that of Spinoza.
References
Leibniz, Gottfried Wilhelm. Philosophical Essays. Translated by Daniel Garber, and Roger Ariew. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Co., 1989.
The Dhammapada. Translated by Eknath Easwaran. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press, 2008.
The Upanishads. Translated by Eknath Easwaran. Tomales, CA: Nilgiri Press, 2007.