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Christian Coseru, Perceiving reality. Consciousness, intentionality, and cognition in buddhist philosophy
No full textSelf-awareness in tibetan buddhism. A study of the philosophical relevance of rang rig and its contribution to the contemporary debates on the nature of consciousness
Full text linkThis research examines the concept of self-awareness (svasamvedana: rang rig) as it was developed in the Indo-Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Self-cognition, that is, the mind’s knowing of itself, is a highly technical concept in Buddhist philosophy and, since it targets fundamental issues relating to the nature of consciousness, represents a crucial subject of debate among various scholars of the tradition. However, modern scholarship has not yet fully examined this field despite the most recent reflections upon self-awareness in the ongoing philosophical debates on subjective experience calling for a deeper study of the insights the Buddhist contemplative tradition might offer in helping to unravel the conundrum that the nature of consciousness presents. Dwelling upon the different understandings of the Buddhist notion of svasamvedana/rang rig, this dissertation mainly examines its Tibetan developments, in light of the Indian philosophical legacy, and the contribution they may offer to a universal discourse on self-awareness, mainly through dialogue with the potentials and tendencies of contemporary philosophy of mind.
After a few introductory remarks, the first part of the research examines the Indian origins and main developments related to the concept of svasamvedana. I start by exploring the initial emergence of the idea of self-awareness in some pre-Dignaga Buddhist sources before taking a closer look at Dignaga’s epistemological formulation of the concept and, finally, considering the main post-Dignaga Indian developments. As such, the first part of the research is intended as an overview of the Indian Buddhist history of the idea of self-awareness that precedes its Tibetan assimilation, an important background that must be considered for a proper understanding of the Tibetan debates.
The second part of the research focuses on the multidimensional relevance that the idea of rang rig acquires in the Tibetan arena. Selecting a few representative Tibetan accounts, I analyze their most relevant philosophical implications. To begin with, I discuss some aspects of the main categories that have been adopted in modern scholarship for the classification of the various understandings of self-awareness. Then, I investigate how the two main features of the intentionality and luminosity of consciousness are questioned and problematized by Tibetan scholars, analyzing the epistemological issues self-awareness entails, such as memory and the validity of cognition, and examining the role of ontology in interpreting self-awareness, especially in relation to the two truths. Moreover, I investigate the soteriological implications of rang rig in relation to spiritual breakthrough, with special reference to the rDzogs-chen view.
The final section of the thesis attempts to create a dialogue between the Tibetan tradition and contemporary studies on self-awareness. These days, self-awareness is still a hot topic tightly linked to the problem of the nature of subjective experience as well as other issues such as the hard problem of consciousness, the differences between same-order and higher-order theories, the relationship between intentionality and phenomenality, and the controversial role of subjectivity. I proceed by identifying aspects and dimensions of the discourse on self-cognition where the Tibetan understandings of this concept can fruitfully meet with the problems and strands of the ongoing debates in philosophy of mind. By putting them in dialogue I analyze the resonances and differences between the legacy of the Indo-Tibetan tradition and the modern controversies that arise.
What ensues from this research is an overall examination of the main accounts of the Buddhist notion of svasamvedana/rang rig, with a specific focus on the Tibetan assimilation and developments of the topic in light of the previous Indian thought upon it. These philosophical positions are unpacked, intertwined, interpreted and considered against a wider reflection upon the universal problems of self-awareness by assuming a methodological approach that allows the categorization and analysis of the challenges and nuances of the cross-cultural praxis itself. With this work I intend to follow the suggestion, recently made by a few recent scholars, to deepen and broaden our understanding of svasamvedana by putting it in relation to the contemporary sensitivity to the topic and in dialogue with comparable ongoing reflections upon the nature of consciousness. Even just scratching the surface of such a delicate, vast and complicated philosophical project, I hope to be able to tap into the mutually transformative potentials of such a cross-cultural philosophical enterprise, whose challenges now more than ever are becoming urgent, demanding but also promising
Evan Thompson, Waking, dreaming, being. Self and consciousness in neuroscience, meditation, and philosophy
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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