Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/91067
Title: Knowledge and man's ascent to it : a comparative study of Platonic and Buddhist views
Authors: Sultana, Hazel (1994)
Keywords: Knowledge, Theory of
Plato
Buddhists
Philosophers
Issue Date: 1994
Citation: Sultana, H. (1994). Knowledge and man's ascent to it : a comparative study of Platonic and Buddhist views (Bachelor's dissertation).
Abstract: In this dissertation, as the title suggests, I have chosen to treat the question of epistemology in Plato and the early Buddhists. The reader might ask, why this particular topic, and why Plato from the Western tradition? The honest reason is that Professor Friggieri chose the topic because I could not bring myself to be selective and particular. There is so much to say, and so little said about Eastern traditions and their relation to Western philosophy. The other semi-honest reason (I say semi-honest because it came after Professor Friggieri knocked some sense into me) is that if I have to start anything, it would be best to start, if not at the very beginning, at least somewhere close to it. This task will, I hope, provide some background and facilitate further research in this sphere. For each chapter in this dissertation I have dedicated a section to Platonic views and a section to the early Buddhist views. The conclusion to each chapter provides a discussion on these converging and diverging opinions. In the conclusion of the whole dissertation I have tried to bring out whether or not the Buddha and Plato, in general, have similar views. I have also mentioned in the conclusion some of the benefits of such a comparative study and the limitations of accommodating so much information between two covers. In the first chapter I have examined Plato's contributions to epistemological questions emergent in the fifth century. The main concepts treated here are perception, knowledge and truth. It was common belief in Plato's time that we gain knowledge by abstraction from objects. Plato broke away from this traditional belief. Not only did he believe that things as they appear were different from things as they are, but also that from this separation followed the separation of the soul from the physical organism. This latter ensuing belief is the subject of the second chapter. The doctrines treated here are dualism - mind and body, versus (neutral) monism - consciousness; immortality versus rebirthlessness; and recollection. The last chapter explains the process of man's ascent to ultimate knowledge, better known as enlightenment. Before moving on to the actual chapters I would like to introduce the philosophical traditions discussed in them by giving a brief outline of the context these views are found in and how they subsequently fared in ensuing philosophical traditions.
Description: B.A.(HONS)PHIL.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/91067
Appears in Collections:Dissertations - FacArt - 1964-1995
Dissertations - FacArtPhi - 1968-2013

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