Researcher ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9877-6920
Graduation Year
2022
Date of Submission
12-2022
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Philosophy
Reader 1
James Kreines
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
© 2022 Paris J Masiel
Abstract
I will explain the core project of ancient Mahayana Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna’s central work, the Mulamadhyamakakarika, or MMK. The MMK is a dense, spiraling text which has confounded scholars since it was written in the 2nd century. It simultaneously argues for the emptiness of conventional concepts, and for the emptiness of emptiness itself. It at once uses logic to break down concepts we typically take for granted, while also seeming to embrace logical contradictions. By investigating two eminent interpretations of the book and one part of Martin Heidegger’s philosophy, I will show that Nagarjuna purposefully charts paradoxical ground in the MMK in order to show us our philosophical impotence and lead us to a disposition of transcendent meditative silence.
Recommended Citation
Masiel, Paris, "Speaking Silently: Nagarjuna and the Paradox of Ultimate Reality" (2022). CMC Senior Theses. 3206.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/3206
