Selfless Persons: Imagery and Thought in Theravada Buddhism

This book explains the Buddhist doctrine of annattá (not-self), which denies the existence of any self, soul, or enduring essence in man. The author relates this doctrine to its cultural and historical context, particularly to its Brahman background. He shows how the Theravada Buddhist tradition has constructed a philosophical and psychological account of personal identity on the apparently impossible basis of the denial of self. Although the emphasis of the book is firmly philosophical, Dr. Collins makes use of a number of academic disciplines, particularly those of anthropology, linguistics, sociology, and comparative religion, in an attempt to discover the deep structure of Buddhist culture and imagination, and to make these doctrines comprehensible in terms of the western history of ideas.

Author: Steven Collins
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 11/29/1990
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.10h x 6.08w x 0.99d
ISBN: 9780521397261

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