Workshop in Ancient Philosophy (Thursday - Week 5, MT25)

Abstract: The seventh-century philosopher Kumārila Bhaṭṭa, in explaining his theory of metaphor, also discusses the problem of negative existentials and nonreferring terms, for cases used by his Buddhist opponents, such as “There is no self” and “The self is a sky-flower.” I show how Kumārila’s broadly descriptivist solution to these puzzles acts as a defense of his preferred theory of metaphor. This case also illustrates the importance of taking Mīmāṃsā texts like the Tantravārttika seriously as philosophical works, even if, given their concern with Vedic hermeneutics, they are less often the topic of modern philosophical interest.