[SydPhil] Sonam Thakchoe (Utas): Buddhist Pragmatism: Four Noble Truths as Deflationary Pragmatic Truths

[Kristie Miller]

Dear all,

As part of the EHLM series of papers, we have the following paper from Sonam Thakchoe on Wednesday October 18. 

Title: Buddhist Pragmatism: Four Noble Truths as Deflationary Pragmatic Truths

Abstract: The teachings of Buddha are centred around the four noble truths, which were discovered by him through intense reflection. These truths are (1) the truth of suffering, (2) the truth of the origin of suffering, (3) the truth of the cessation of suffering, and (4) the truth of the path leading to the cessation of suffering. They represent the core of Buddha's philosophy and contain his practical teachings. Buddha declared his full enlightenment upon realizing these truths directly. My paper examines the type of truth that the four noble truths represent in contemporary philosophical terms. Traditionally, the correspondence and coherence theories of truth have dominated Western philosophy. However, applying these theories to the four noble truths is not fitting. Instead, I propose that Buddha was a pragmatist about truth and that the four noble truths can be interpreted as pragmatic truths. I suggest that the language of the pragmatist tradition founded by William James and John Dewey is a more appropriate way to articulate these truths. However, the proposed interpretation differs from traditional Western pragmatism. Instead, I defend that the four noble truths are deeply deflationary pragmatic truths, satisfying the key pragmatic criteria of assimilation, corroboration, and verification.

And here is the schedule for the session:

Wednesday, 18 October

Schedule (China, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong):

9.00 - 9.10am: introductory remarks.
9.10 - 10.00am: Sonam Thakchoe (University of Tasmania) -  Four Noble Truths as Deflationary Pragmatic Truths
10.00 - 10.15am: Thomas Doctor (Rangjung Yeshe Institute) - comments
10.15-10.25am: Sonam Thakchoe - response
10.25-11.00am: Q&A

Zoom registration is here:

https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/lRDQCD1vlpToLy19mtW21T-?domain=ehlm.org




Professor Kristie Miller
Chair of Discipline,
Joint Director, the Centre for Time
School of Humanities,
The Centre for Time
The University of Sydney
Sydney Australia
Room S213, A 14 Main Quad

kristie.miller at sydney.edu.au
kristie_miller at yahoo.com
Ph: +612 9036 9663
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/vtRMCE8wmrtl8Ym7GuwZlpO?domain=kristiemiller.net 
https://protect-au.mimecast.com/s/HnyVCGv0oyCBN6m7lipuUTg?domain=centrefortime.org






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