PREVIEW-Episode 27: Nagarjuna on Buddhist “Emptiness”

Summary: Primarily discussing "Reasoning: The Sixty Stanzas" and "Emptiness: The Seventy Stanzas," by the 2nd century Indian Buddhist Nagarjuna.<br> This is a 32-minute preview of our vintage 1 hr, 44-minute episode which you can buy at <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/product/ep-27-nagarjuna/" target="_blank">partiallyexaminedlife.com/store</a> or <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2010/10/10/ep27-nagarjuna-buddhism-citizens/" target="_blank">get for free</a> with PEL Citizenship (see <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/membership" target="_blank">partiallyexaminedlife.com/membership</a>). You can also purchase the full episode in the <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/episode-27-nagarjuna-on-buddhist/id884292009" target="_blank">iTunes Store</a>: Search for "Partially Nagarjuna" and look under "Albums."<br> Is the world of our experience ultimately real? If not, does it have something metaphysically basic underlying it? For Nagarjuna, the answers are "no" and "no... well... not that we can talk about."<br> Mark and Seth are joined by guest Erik Douglas to discuss metaphysics, causality, the possibility of remaking your perceptual habits, why someone who believes that all is empty might still want to act ethically, and how to deny a claim without affirming its equally dubious opposite.<br> Look at <a href="http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/nagarjuna.pdf" target="_blank">this document</a> for our primary texts plus a couple of others that we mention; we also skimmed <a href="http://www.myspace.com/shivatao/blog/283271465" target="_blank">Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way</a>. Secondary sources are discussed <a href="http://partiallyexaminedlife.com/2010/10/10/secondary-sources-for-nagarjuna/" target="_blank">here</a>.<br> End song: "Nothing in this World" by by <a href="http://marklint.com">Mark Lint and the Simulacra</a>, recorded partly in 2000 and partly just now.<br>