Ancient Greek and Indian Buddhist Philosophers on Reality and Selfhood

An international team of experts in Ancient philosophy explore the connections, analogies and differences occurring between Greek and Indian Buddhist traditions.

Key areas and aspects of ancient philosophy in Greek and Indian Buddhist traditions are illuminated in this collection.

Covering an extended period of time, from early (5th century BC), through Hellenism (at Cyrene), to post-Hellenistic times (up to the 7th century AD) it begins by focusing on historical themes and methods in ancient Greece and India. This sketch of historical and philosophical connections between the regions, from Classical times to post-Hellenism, sets the ground for deeper exploration between these two traditions.

Attention is placed on reality and selfhood. An international team of contributors deal with topics including consciousness, personal identity and personhood. They tackle metaphysical questions about composition and material constitution of things, shedding light on the challenges Greek and Buddhist thinkers faced.

Converging analyses and shared themes are identified in a substantive introduction to the collection. Key philosophical terms from ancient Greek, Latin, Sanskrit and Tibetan are included in a glossary. This is an important contribution to the growing literature in ancient comparative philosophy.