Instructors:
Prof. Dr. Steffen Döll
Displayed in timetable as:
BS 1 Topics
Language of instruction:
English
Min. | Max. participants:
- | -
Comments/contents:
There is no denying that academic knowledge is supposed to be cumulative in nature: The stock of what we know about Buddhism, for instance, is continuously increased by new studies, new approaches and methodologies, or new discoveries. All too often academic work, therefore, remains bound to the paradigm of novelty and originality and neglects to reflect and reevaluate what we think we can take for granted as secure knowledge.
This seminar proposes to raise this epstemological problem to awareness and return to the sources of Buddhist Studies, as it were. Focussing on examples from the corpus of classical secondary literature (such as Burnouf, Conze, Demiéville, Frauwallner, Hurvitz, La Vallee-Poussin, Lamotte, Oldenberg, Rhys Davids, Stcherbatsky, Tucci, as well as many others), we will raise questions such as: Are the findings presented therein still valid? Is the methodology justifiable? Has newer literature improved or contradicted such studies? By what virtues are they seen as formative influences on the field?
Literature:
