‘I’ without ‘I am’
On the Presence of Subjectivity in Early Buddhism, in the Light of Transcendental Phenomenology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsrv.v29i2.175-250Keywords:
anattā, consciousness, early Buddhism, Husserl, ‘I’, ‘I am’, intentionality, non-self, phenomenology, subjectivityAbstract
Investigating the Pali suttas, compiled prior to the development of Abhidhamma, from a phenomenological perspective reveals an internally coherent and consistent doctrine/theory whose crucial theme is the intentionality and subjectivity of consciousness. Reductive interpretations tend to interpret the basic Buddhist principle of ‘non-self ’, and its correlative repudiation of the concept/conceit ‘I am’, as entailing a rejection of any genuine (phenomenological) meaningfulness for the term ‘I’ as a legitimate expression of subjectivity, intentionality, and consciousness. Indeed, it is occasionally even claimed that Buddhas and Arahants cannot possess subjective intentional consciousness at all. In the following reflections, then, a few key aspects of an alternative (phenomenological) perspective upon early Pali Buddhism are introduced and sketched out, whereby it is argued that the presence of subjective intentional consciousness, even in the case of Buddhas and Arahants, is not only presupposed by the suttas, and is not only quite unproblematic for early Buddhist doctrine/theory, but is also actually of fundamental importance for the very possibility of Buddhist truth and practice. Thus, early Buddhist doctrine/theory is not only non-reductive; it also eminently invites a deep dialogue with, and a serious and detailed interpretation from the perspective of, Transcendental Phenomenology.
References
Primary Pali Texts and their translations
Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.). 2000. The Connected Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Samyutta Nikaya, Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.
———. (trans.). [1980] 2006. The Discourse on the Root of Existence: The Mulapariyayasutta and its Commentaries, 2nd ed. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.
———. (trans.). [1984] 2010. The Great Discourse on Causation: The Mahanidana Sutta and its Commentaries, 2nd ed. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.
———. (trans.). 2012. The Numerical Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Anguttara Nikaya, Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Buddhasasana Society. 2008. Chatthasangitipitakam, Pali Series 1–40, Atthakatha Series 1–52, Tika Series 1–26, Yangon, Myanmar: Ministry of Religious Affairs.
Dhamma Society. 2011. World Tipitaka Edition: Tipitaka Studies in Theravada Buddhasasana, http://studies.worldtipitaka.org.
Ñanamoli, Bhikkhu (trans.). [1956] 1991. The Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga) of Bhadantacariya Buddhaghosa, 5th ed. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.
Ñanamoli, Bhikkhu, and Bodhi, Bhikkhu (trans.). [1995] 2009. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: A Translation of the Majjhima Nikaya, Translated from the Pali, 4th ed. Boston, MA: Wisdom Publications.
Nyanaponika Thera and Bodhi, Bhikkhu (transs.). 2007. Anguttara Nikaya Anthology: An Anthology of Discourses from the Anguttara Nikaya, Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu (trans.). 2012, at J. Bullitt (ed.) 2005–2012, Access to Insight, http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka (Offline Edition 2012.09.10.14).
Vipassana Research Institute. 1995. Chattha Sangayana Tipitaka 4.0, Version 4.0.0.15.
Yuttadhammo, Bhikkhu. 2011. Digital Pali Reader, Version 3.8.
Other works
Albahari, M. 2011. ‘Nirvana and Ownerless Consciousness’. In Self, No Self? Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions, edited by M. Siderits, E. Thompson and D. Zahavi, 79–113. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Aristotle [4th Cent. BCE] 1996. Metaphysics: Books I-IX. Edited and translated by H. Tredennick. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Augustine, St. [397 CE] 1999. The Confessions. Translated by M. Boulding OSB, London: Hodder and Stoughton
Böthlingk, O. and R. Roth. [1852–1875] 1990. Sanskrit-Wörterbuch. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. (Originally published by Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, St Petersburg)
Buitenen, J. A. B. van. 1957. ‘Studies in Samkhya (II)’. Journal of the American Oriental Society 77(1): 15–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/594871
Burley, M. 2007. Classical Samkhya and Yoga: An Indian Metaphysics of Experience. London: Routledge,
Carter, R. [1998] 2003. Mapping the Mind, London: Phoenix/Orion Books
Collins, S. 1982. Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511621499
Cone, M. 2001. A Dictionary of Pali, Part I. Oxford: The Pali Text Society.
———. 2010. A Dictionary of Pali, Part II. Bristol: The Pali Text Society.
Descartes, R. [1641] 1904. Oeuvres de Descartes: Volume VII, Meditationes de Prima Philosophia. Edited by C. Adam and P. Tannery. Paris: Léopold Cerf
———. [1644] 1905. Oeuvres de Descartes: Volume VIII, Principia Philosophiae. Edited by C. Adam and P. Tannery. Paris: Léopold Cerf.
———. [1641–44] 2003. Meditations and Other Metaphysical Writings. Translated by D. M. Clarke. London: Penguin Books.
Dhammasami, Ven. K., P. de Silva, S. Shaw, D. Peoples, J. Cresswell and T. Endo, eds. 2012. Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice: Academic Papers Presented at the 2nd International Association of Buddhist Universities Conference. Bangkok, Thailand: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University Press, 2012 [Available online at: http://www.undv.org/vesak2012/book/buddhist_philosophy_and_meditation_ practice%20.pdf]
Dummett, M. 1991. Frege and Other Philosophers, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
———. 1993. Origins of Analytical Philosophy. London: Duckworth.
Edgerton, F. [1953] 1993. Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Grammar and Dictionary, Vol. II: Dictionary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas.
Fasching, W. 2009. ‘The Mineness of Experience’, Continental Philosophy Review 42(2): 131– 148. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11007-009-9107-z
———. 2012. ‘Intentionality and Presence: On the Intrinsic Of-ness of Consciousness from a Transcendental-Phenomenological Perspective’. Husserl Studies 28(2): 121–141. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10743-012-9106-5
Fink, C. K. 2012. ‘The ‘Scent’ of a Self: Buddhism and the First-Person Perspective’. Asian Philosophy 22 (3): 289–306. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09552367.2012.709736
Fisette, D. 1998. ‘The Horizon of the Self: Husserl on Indexicals’. In Self-Awareness, Temporality, and Alterity: Central Topics in Phenomenology, edited by D. Zahavi, 119– 135. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
Frege, G. 1918. ‘Der Gedanke. Eine logische Untersuchung’. Beiträge zur Philosophie des deutschen Idealismus I (1918–1919): 58–77
———. [1918] 1956. ‘The Thought: A Logical Inquiry’. Translated by A. Quinton and M. Quinton. Mind 45(259): 289–311.
Goodall, D., ed. and trans. 1996. Hindu Scriptures. London: Orion Books.
Grimm, G. [1915] 1999. The Doctrine of the Buddha: The Religion Reason and Meditation. Translated by Bhikkhu Silacara. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass
Hamilton, S. 1996. Identity and Experience: The Constitution of the Human Being According to Early Buddhism. London: Luzac Oriental
———. 2000. Early Buddhism: A New Approach. The I of the Beholder. London: Routledge
Harvey, P. 1986. ‘“Signless” Meditations in Pali Buddhism’. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 9 (1): 25–52.
———. 1993. ‘The Mind-Body Relationship in Pali Buddhism: A Philosophical Investigation’. Asian Philosophy 3(1): 29–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09552369308575369
———. 1995. The Selfless Mind: Personality, Consciousness and Nirvana in Early Buddhism. Surrey: Curzon Press.
———. 2009. ‘The Four Ariya-saccas as “True Realities for the Spiritually Ennobled” — the Painful, its Origin, its Cessation, and the Way Going to This — Rather than ‘Noble Truths’ Concerning These’. Buddhist Studies Review 26(2): 197–227.
Heidegger, M. [1927] 1975. Die Grundprobleme der Phänomenologie. Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Klostermann.
———. [1927] 1988. The Basic Problems of Phenomenology. Translated by A. Hofstadter. Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press.
———. [1927] 1993. Sein und Zeit, Siebzehnte Auflage. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag.
———. [1927] 2001. Being and Time. Translated by J. Macquarrie and E. Robinson. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hinüber, O. v. 1996. A Handbook of Pali Literature. Indian Philology and South Asian Studies, Vol. 2. Edited by A. Wezler and M. Witzel. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Hofmann, J. B. [1950] 1989. Etumologikon Lexikon tes Arkhaias Ellenikes (Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Griechischen). Translated by A. D. Papanikolaos. University of Athens (Original publication München: Verlag von R. Oldenbourg, 1950).
Hume, D. [1739–40] 1985. A Treatise of Human Nature. London: Penguin Books.
Husserl, E. 1913. Logische Untersuchungen, Zweiter Band: Untersuchungen zur Phänomenologie und Theorie der Erkenntnis, Erster Teil, 2nd edition. Halle: Max Niemeyer.
———. [1929] 1950. Cartesianische Meditationen und Pariser Vorträge. Edited by S. Strasser. Haag: Martinus Nijhoff.
———. [1928] 1952a. Ideen zu einer reinen Phänomenologie und phänomenologischen Philosophie, Zweites Buch: Phänomenologische Untersuchungen zur Konstitution. Edited by M. Biemel. Haag: Martinus Nijhoff.
———. [1912] 1952b. Ideen zu einer reinen Phänomenologie und phänomenologischen Philosophie. Drittes Buch: Die Phänomenologie und die Fundamente der Wissenschaften. Edited by M. Biemel. Haag: Martinus Nijhoff.
———. [1934–1937] 1954. Die Krisis der europäischen Wissenschaften und die Transzendentale Phänomenologie: Eine Einleitung in die Phänomenologische Philosophie. Edited by W. Biemel. Haag: Martinus Nijhoff.
———. [1925] 1962. Phänomenologische Psychologie: Vorlesungen Sommersemester 1925. Edited by W. Biemel. Haag: Martinus Nijhoff.
———. [1893-1917] 1966. Zur Phänomenologie des inneren Zeitbewusstseins (1893–1917). Edited by R. Boehm. Haag: Martinus Nijhoff
———. [1929] 1970a. Cartesian Meditations: An Introduction to Phenomenology. Translated by D. Cairns. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff.
———. [1934–1937] 1970b. The Crisis of European Sciences and Transcendental Phenomenology: An Introduction to Phenomenological Philosophy. Translated by D. Carr. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press.
———. [1913] 1976. Ideen zu einer reinen Phänomenologie und phänomenologischen Philosophie, Erstes Buch: Allgemeine Einführung in die reine Phänomenologie. Edited by K. Schuhmann. Haag: Martinus Nijhoff.
———. [1913/1976] 1982. Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy, First Book: General Introduction to a Pure Phenomenology. Translated by F. Kersten. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-7445-6
———. [1928/1952] 1989. Ideas Pertaining to a Pure Phenomenology and to a Phenomenological Philosophy, Second Book: Studies in the Phenomenology of Constitution. Translated by R. Rojcewicz and A. Schuwer. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2233-4
———. [1893-1917] 1991. On the Phenomenology of the Consciousness of Internal Time (1893-1917). Translated by J. B. Brough. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3718-8
———. [1927–1931] 1997. Psychological and Transcendental Phenomenology and the Confrontation with Heidegger (1927–1931): The Encyclopaedia Britannica Article, The Amsterdam Lectures, ‘Phenomenology and Anthropology’, and Husserl’s Marginal Notes in Being and Time and Kant and the Problem of Metaphysics. Translated by T. Sheehan and R. E. Palmer. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
———. [1900/1901, 1913/1921] 2006. Logical Investigations: Volume II. Translated by J. N. Findlay. London: Routledge.
———. [1900/1901, 1913] 2008. Logical Investigations: Volume I. Translated by J. N. Findlay. London: Routledge.
James, W. 1892. Psychology: Briefer Course. London: Macmillan. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/11630-000
Jayatilleke, K. N. 1963. Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge. London: George Allen & Unwin.
Johansson, R. E. A. 1965. ‘Citta, Mano, Vinnana — a Psychosemantic Investigation’. University of Ceylon Review 23: 165–215.
Kant, I. [1781, 1787] 1889. Kritik der reinen Vernunft. Edited by E. Adickes. Berlin: Mayer and Müller.
———. [1781, 1787] 2000. Critique of Pure Reason. Translated by P. Guyer and A. W. Wood. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kheyfets, A., and Wheeler, J. A. 1986. ‘Boundary of a Boundary Principle and Geometric Structure of Field Theories’. International Journal of Theoretical Physics 25(6): 573– 80. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00670471
Kosowksi, L. 2008. ‘Noema in the Light of Contradiction, Conflict, and Nonsense: The Noema as Possibly Thinkable Content’. Husserl Studies 24(3): 243–259. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10743-008-9040-8
Lanier, J. 1997. ‘Death: The Skeleton Key of Consciousness Studies?’ Journal of Consciousness Studies 4(2): 181–185.
Liddell, H. G., R. Scott, H. S. Jones and R. McKenzie. [1843] 1996. A Greek-English Lexicon, Ninth Edition (with Revised Supplement). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Martini, G. 2012. ‘Transcending the Limiting Power of Karma — The Early Buddhist Appamanas’. In Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice: Academic Papers Presented at the 2nd International Association of Buddhist Universities Conference. Edited by Ven. K. Dhammasami et al., 413–437. Bangkok, Thailand: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University Press.
Meltzoff, A. N. and M. K. Moore. 1977. ‘Imitation of Facial and Manual Gestures by Human Neonates’. Science 198 (4312): 75–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.198.4312.75
Meltzoff, A. N., and R. Brooks. 2007. ‘Intersubjectivity before Language: Three Windows on Preverbal Sharing’. In On Being Moved: From Mirror Neurons to Empathy, edited by S. Bråten, 149–174. Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.
Mensch, J. R. 2009. ‘The Phenomenological Status of the Ego’. Idealistic Studies 39 (1–3): 1–9.
Monier-Williams, M. [1899] 1993. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers.
Ñanananda, K. [1988–91] 2010. Nibbana: The Mind Stilled. United States of America: Theravada Tipitaka Press.
Narada Maha Thera, ed. and trans. [1956] 1975. A Manual of Abhidhamma, Being Abhidhammattha Sangaha of Bhadanta Anuruddhacarya [c. 9th–11th Centuries C.E.], edited in the Original Pali Text with English Translation and Notes, 3rd ed. Kandy: Buddhist Publication Society.
Nizamis, K. trans. 2011. List of texts translated by this author on the Access to Insight website: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/translators.html#niza
———. 2012. ‘The Mind’s ‘I’ in Meditation: Early Pali Buddhadhamma and Transcendental Phenomenology in Mutual Reflection’. In Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation Practice: Academic Papers Presented at the 2nd International Association of Buddhist Universities Conference. Edited by Ven. K. Dhammasami et al., 212–238. Bangkok, Thailand: Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University Press.
Norman, K. R. [1990] 2012. ‘Pali Philology and the Study of Buddhism’. In The Buddhist Forum: Vol. I Seminar Papers 1987–1988, edited by T. Skorupski, 31–39. Tring, UK and Berkeley, USA: The Institute of Buddhist Studies (First published by the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, 1990).
Oberdan, T. 1993. Protocols, Truth and Convention, Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi.
Pakin, S. 2012. Stereograms by Scott Pakin, http://www.pakin.org/~scott/stereograms/.
Pérez-Remón, J. 1980. Self and Non-Self in Early Buddhism. The Hague, Paris and New York: Mouton Publishers. http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9783110804164
Prigogine, I. and I. Stengers. 1984. Order out of Chaos: Man’s New Dialogue with Nature, New York: Bantam Book. (First published as La nouvelle alliance, Paris: Gallimard 1979)
Rhys Davids, T. W. and W. Stede, eds. [1921–1925] 1998. The Pali Text Society’s Pali-English Dictionary. Oxford: The Pali Text Society.
Röska-Hardy, L. 1999. ‘‘I’ and the First Person Perspective’. In The Paideia Project On-Line, Philosophy of Language Section, Proceedings of the Twentieth World Congress of Philosophy, Boston, http://www.bu.edu/wcp/Papers/Lang/LangRosk.htm
Searle, J. R. 1984. Minds, Brains and Science. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Siderits, M. 2011. ‘Buddhas as Zombies: A Buddhist Reduction of Subjectivity’. In Self, No Self? Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions, edited by M. Siderits, E. Thompson and D. Zahavi, 308–331. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Siderits, M., E. Thompson and D. Zahavi, eds. 2011. Self, No Self? Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Terrell, P., V. Schnorr, W. V. A. Morris and R. Breitsprecher, eds. 1991. Collins GermanEnglish English-German Dictionary/Collins Grosswörterbuch Deutsch-Englisch EnglischDeutsch, 2nd ed. Glasgow and New York: HarperCollins and Stuttgart: Ernst Klett Verlag für Wissen und Bildung.
Thanissaro Bhikkhu. [1993] 2010. The Mind like Fire Unbound: An Image in the Early Buddhist Discourses, 4th ed. United States of America: Metta Forest Monastery.
Thompson, E. 2011. ‘Self-No-Self? Memory and Reflexive Awareness’. In Self, No Self? Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions, edited by M. Siderits, E. Thompson and D. Zahavi, 157–175. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Warder, A. K. [1963] 2010. Introduction to Pali, 3rd ed. Bristol: The Pali Text Society.
Whitney, W. D. [1885] 2000. The Roots, Verb-Forms and Primary Derivatives of the Sanskrit Language. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Wijesekera, O. H. de A. [1945] 1994. ‘Vedic Gandharva and Pali Gandhabba’. In Buddhist and Vedic Studies, 191–212. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass (Original publication: Wijesekera, O. H. de A. 1945, ‘Vedic Gandharva and Pali Gandhabba’, University of Ceylon Review, 3[1]).
Wittgenstein, L. [1914–1916] 1961. Notebooks 1914–1916. Edited by G. H. von Wright and G. E. M. Anscombe, Translated by G. E. M. Anscombe. New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers and Great Britain: Basil Blackwell.
———. [1958] 1969. Preliminary Studies for the ‘Philosophical Investigations’, Generally Known as the Blue and Brown Books, 2nd ed. Oxford: Blackwell.
———. [1921] 1974. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus: The German text of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Logisch-philosophische Abhandlung. Translated by D. F. Pears and B. F. McGuiness. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
———. [1945–1949] 1998. Philosophical Investigations / Philosophische Untersuchungen, 2nd ed., Translated by G. E. M. Anscombe. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Wynne, A. 2010 (2011), ‘The Atman and its Negation: A Conceptual and Chronological Analysis of Early Buddhist Thought’. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 33(1–2): 103–171.
Zahavi, D. ed. 1998. Self-Awareness, Temporality, and Alterity: Central Topics in Phenomenology. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
———. 1999. Self-Awareness and Alterity: A Phenomenological Investigation. Illinois: Northwestern University Press.
———. 2008. Subjectivity and Selfhood: Investigating the First-Person Perspective. Cambridge, MA and London, UK: MIT Press/Bradford.
———. 2011. ‘The Experiential Self: Objections and Clarifications’. In Self, No Self? Perspectives from Analytical, Phenomenological, and Indian Traditions, edited by M. Siderits, E. Thompson and D. Zahavi, 56–78. Oxford: Oxford University Press.