Metaphysics and Epistemology Group (Tuesday - Week 6, TT26)

Abstract: Metaphysical Coherentism is a relatively underexplored position within the Western analytic tradition. On the contrary, its two essential features- interdependence and a lack of independent foundations- appear heavily throughout Mahāyāna Buddhist metaphysics, as a result of the strong influence of the Buddhist doctrine of emptiness. This talk has two main aims. First is to demonstrate that Buddhist pictures of interdependence and emptiness can be directly compared with contemporary pictures of coherentism. I defend this comparison by showing that there are close connections between the two components of Swiderski’s (2024) Coherentist Canon, and the core Buddhist concepts of Śūnyatā and Pratītyasamutpāda. Second, I aim to show that making such a comparison can be mutually beneficial for philosophers working within both the Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition and the contemporary analytic tradition. These benefits are explored through applications of various coherentist structures, in a way that sheds light on puzzles found within various Mahāyāna schools. Further, I offer suggestions of how Buddhist impermanence might help the coherentist respond to challenges. In essence, I hope to show that analysis of Buddhist interdependence and metaphysical coherentism side by side can be complimentary, and worthwhile given its capacity to provide insight into universal questions to do with reality’s structure.

Registration: If you do not hold a university card, please contact the seminar convenor or admin@philosophy.ox.ac.uk at least two working days before a seminar to register your attendance.