Courses
RELI4047 Mind in Chinese Buddhist Philosophy (3 units)
- Prerequisite:
- RELI2007 Problems of Philosophy
- Co-requisite:
- RELI2007 Problems of Philosophy
The course aims to provide a comparative study of the Buddhist philosophy of mind in the context of Chinese Buddhism and the philosophy of mind developed in the contemporary Analytic Philosophy. In this course, we will address a number of fundamental questions which are often discussed in the contemporary analytic philosophy of mind: What is consciousness? Can science explain consciousness? What is the place of consciousness in nature? Is consciousness physical or non-physical? Is the mind nothing but the brain? How do we know about our mind? What are the contents of our mental states? How does mind relate to body and the external world? We will discuss this set of questions from the perspectives of Chinese Buddhism. Throughout the course, philosophical theories and concepts developed in the contemporary analytic philosophy of mind will be brought into dialogue with the Chinese Buddhist perspectives.