Pure Consciousness and Indian Buddhism
The Problem of Pure Consciousness March 29, 1990 DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780195059809.003.0003 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Buddhism |
| Citations | 16 |
| Key points | Reviews the philosophical debate surrounding the possibility of pure unmediated consciousness, focusing on responses to Steven Katz's argument that it cannot occur. |
Abstract
Abstract There has been a good deal of discussion in the philosophical journals recently about the possibility of a special type of consciousness.1 This special kind of consciousness is called, variously, pure consciousness, unmediated consciousness, contentless consciousness, and so forth. Much of the debate has taken place in response to Steven Katz’s attempt to show that such consciousness-which he calls pure unmediated experience (1978:26)-neither logically can nor as a matter of fact does occur.
Comparable studies
Other theoretical and historical papers on buddhism, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental balance and well-being: Building bridges between Buddhism and Western psychology. | 2006 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist Modernism and the Rhetoric of Meditative Experience | 1995 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Buddhist and Psychological Perspectives on Emotions and Well-Being | 2005 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| Too Early to Tell: The Potential Impact and Challenges—Ethical and Otherwise—Inherent in the Mainstreaming of Dharma in an Increasingly Dystopian World | 2017 | Theoretical or philosophical paper | |
| From self to nonself: The Nonself Theory | 2016 | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
Citations in the library
Cited by 6
- Does the Concept of “Altered States of Consciousness” Rest on a Mistake? International Journal of Transpersonal Studies 2007
- Knowing Blue: Early Buddhist Accounts of Non-Conceptual Sense Philosophy East and West 2018
- Knowing Blue: Early Buddhist Accounts of Non-Conceptual Sense Perception Philosophy East and West 2017
- Is religious experience epistemologically reliable? An embodied-philosophical inquiry Religious Studies December 9, 2025
- Nierozróżniający wgląd w medytacji buddyzmu chan i jego wczesnobuddyjskie analogie Argument Biannual Philosophical Journal June 1, 2017
and 1 more in the library