My latest compilation is on Buddhist Philosophy. What follows is the introduction to the bibliography.
This list covers philosophically oriented Buddhist titles from within Buddhism, as well as works by those who bring modern philosophical arguments and methods of analysis (and phenomenology, hermeneutics, etc.) to their examination of Buddhist philosophy, occasionally comparing it to other philosophical worldviews (hence those writing first and foremost as Buddhists on the one hand, and those identifying as professional philosophers or using contemporary philosophy to study Buddhist philosophy, on the other; there is occasionally overlap between the two approaches). It also has titles that examine Buddhist psychology and several works on topics in Buddhist aesthetics and philosophy of art. I have a separate bibliography on Buddhist art as well.
Like most of my bibliographies, there are two constraints: books, in English (a few exceptions owing to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entries [SEP]). While this list is fairly comprehensive, it is not exhaustive, still, it should be useful for most purposes, as many of the titles have excellent bibliographies to supplement our list, containing the requisite primary source literature.
While it might reasonably be said that one part of the threefold division of the Eightfold Path (Skt., āryāṣṭāṅgamārga) in Buddhism represents philosophy, namely, prajñā (sometimes translated as ‘wisdom’), meaning insight into the “true nature of reality” (involving both ‘discriminating knowledge’ and ‘intuitive apprehension’), the other two parts are no less relevant: sīla or ethics and samādhi (concentration or one-pointedness, mind-training, and meditation). Morality and ethics are of course one branch of philosophy in the West, and samādhi has to do with the Buddhist philosophy of mind and psychology (and the philosophy of psychology). At the same time, the Eightfold Path represents Buddhist spiritual practices, the tripartite structure consisting of eight complementary and mutually reinforcing parts, even if Buddhism is sometimes reduced to or largely associated with meditation (which is three of the eight parts). In contemporary philosophical terms, Buddhist philosophy is “therapeutic,” that is, it is “philosophy as therapeia,” thus its philosophy is intimately bound up with its “spiritual exercises.”
Those new to Buddhism should take the time and trouble to acquaint themselves with this worldview’s fundamental concepts and doctrines, so, in addition to the Eightfold Path: the Four Noble Truths (i.e., the ‘four truths [known by the spiritually] noble’): (i) suffering (duḥkha/dukkha), (ii) the origin or cause of suffering (samudaya), (iii) the possibility for the cessation of suffering (nirodha), and (iv) the path by which we can eliminate suffering and achieve liberation from saṃsāra (termed nirvāṇa/nibbāna) (the medical analogy: symptomatic diagnosis, etiology, prescription and cure available, and implementing the therapeutic regimen), minimally speaking, it entails following the Eightfold Path; the four “divine abidings” or “immeasurables” (brahmavihāra), namely, (i) loving kindness (maitrī/mettā), (ii) compassion (karuṇā), (iii) empathetic joy (muditā), and (iv) equanimity (upekṣā/upekkhā), which are ethical virtues but also meditative topics; pāramitās, which are spiritual and ethical virtues or “perfections” developed and practiced by a bodhisattva on the path to becoming a Buddha: (i) generosity or giving (dāna), (ii) morality or ethics (śīla/sīla), (iii) patience or forbearance (kṣānti/khanti), (iv) effort, vigour, and diligence (vīrya/viriya), (v) concentration, “one-pointedness” or meditation (dhyāna/jhāna), and (vi) wisdom (prajñā), to which were later added (by the Mahāyāna tradition) (vii) skillful method or means (upāya), (viii) vow(s) (praṇidhāna), (ix) spiritual strength or power (bala), and (x) knowledge or intuitive pristine awareness (jñāna); pratītya-samutpāda/paticca-samuppāda or the “chain of dependent or conditioned origination” (this doctrine can be viewed as having metaphysical, logical, psychological, and ethical dimensions) thus, conditioned by (i) ignorance [avidyā/avijjā] are (ii) formations or karmic predispositions [samskāras], conditioned by formations is (iii) consciousness [vijñāna/viññāna], conditioned by consciousness is (iv) mind-and-body or name-and-form [nāma-rūpa/skandhas/kandhas], conditioned by mind-and-body are (v) the six sense fields (6 organs, 6 objects, and 6 kinds of sense consciousness) [sadāyatana/salāyatana], conditioned by the six sense fields is (vi) sense-contact [sparśa/phassa], conditioned by sense-contact is (vii) feeling [vedanā], conditioned by feeling is (viii) craving, or inordinate or improper desire [trsna/tanhā], conditioned by craving is (ix) grasping [upādāna], conditioned by grasping is (x) becoming [bhava], conditioned by becoming is (xi) birth [jāti], conditioned by birth is (xii) decay and death [jarāmaranam]; trilakṣaṇa/tilakkhaṇa, the three “marks” or characteristics of conditioned phenomena in saṃsāra: (i) impermance (anitya/annica), (ii) suffering (duḥkha/dukkha), of which there are three principal types, and (iii) no-self (anātman/anattā); skandha(s)/khandha(s): the five aggregates of “clinging,” that is, the five material and mental factors that take part in the rise of craving and clinging or grasping. They are also explained as the five factors that constitute and account for one’s character or personality or sense of personhood or personal identity, namely, (i) “form” or “matter” (rūpa), (ii) sensations or feeling (vedanā), (iii) perception or discrimination or distinguishing (saṃjñā/saññā), (iv) “conditioning factors” (saṃskāra/saṅkhāra) or the karmic effects on our mental activities and actions, and (v) consciousness vijñāna/viññāṇa; kleśa(s)/kilesa(s): mental afflictions that cloud and/or disturb the mind, tending to incite unwholesome deeds of body and speech and/or states of mind, often three (as ‘poisons’) in number: (i) greed or craving or inordinate often sensual desire (rāga or lobha), (ii) hatred or aversion (dveṣa/dosa), and (iii) delusion (moha), including connotations of confusion and ignorance (kleśas can include what we think of as the passions or passionate emotions but the term is not identical to ‘emotions,’ for which there is not a strictly equivalent term in Buddhism). And so forth and so on.
There is one indispensable reference source every serious student of Buddhism should have nearby: Robert E. Busswell, Jr. and Donald S. Lopez, Jr., The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism (Princeton University Press, 2014).
Finally, before approaching Buddhist philosophy it helps to be acquainted with other Indian philosophies (the argumentative milieu). Thus I have a list for Indian philosophy, a compilation on Buddhism with helpful introductory titles, and a bibliography for Jainism for those fairly new to Buddhism generally and Buddhist philosophy in particular. And with respect to Buddhism interacting with classical Chinese worldviews (Confucian, Daoist, and Mohist, for example), please see the bibliography for same. I welcome notice of titles believed conspicuous by their absence here. (I apologize for the missing supra-script and subscript diacritic dots.)
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