The Problem of Subjectless Consciousness in some Western and Eastern Traditions
Tatyana Petrovna Lifintseva, Diana E. Gasparyan
NeuroQuantology June 3, 2015 DOI: 10.14704/nq.2015.13.3.840 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Key points | The paper examines possible parallels between Western deconstructions of the subject and Mahayana Buddhist accounts of consciousness, arguing that concepts such as "subjectless consciousness," "structural apriori," and "rhizome" may be meaningfully correlated with ideas like jnāna, prajñāpāramitā, and ālayavijñāna, while assessing the degree and limits of that correlation. |
Abstract
The research investigates the concept of a “subjectless consciousness” and deconstruction of a classical subject in Western philosophy of the XX-th XXI-th century (especially in structuralism and post-structuralism). It also investigates the “non-dual” consciousness (jnāna), “understanding wisdom” (prajnāpārmitā) and an extra-subjective “consciousness treasury” (ālayavijnāna) in Māhāyana Buddhism (darśanas of mādhyamaka-śūnyavāda and yogacāra-vijnānavada). It also explores a clarification to what degree the Western concepts of “subjectless consciousness“, «extra-subject consciousness”, “structural apriori”, “rhizome” etc. may be correlated with the concepts of Māhāyana Buddhist philosophy.