Unify the Ununified
Keywords:
Indian philosophy, Buddhism, Yogachara, Sautrantika, Sarvastivada, J.C. Gold, Vasubandhu, Abhidharmakosha-bhashyam, atman, anatman, Indian philosophy, Buddhism, Yogachara, Sautrantika, Sarvastivada, J.C. Gold, Vasubandhu, Abhidharmakosha-bhashyam, atman, anatmanAbstract
The reviewed book of J.C. Gold “Paving the Great Way: Vasubandhu’s Unifying Buddhist
Philosophy” is dedicated to the outstanding thinker of Ancient India, Buddhist philosopher
Vasubandhu (4th century). The article contains brief information about the figure of the philosopher.
The monograph, in six chapters of which Jonathan K. Gold considers the figure of Vasubandhu
and the philosophy that unites his works is considered and analyzed in detail. The author of the
review dwells in detail on the third chapter of the book, dedicated to the problem of the self in the
philosophy of Vasubandhu, as well as Appendix B, which contains a brief refutation of the existence
of the self from “Abhidharmakosha-bhashyam”. The author emphasizes Vasubandhu’s description
by J.C. Gold as an ironic philosopher who consistently observes the form of explanation he deems
necessary and ultimately self-destructive, and that the book is not an intellectual biography, but
something like a portrait of an individual philosophical style capable of uniting the disjointed works
of an ancient philosopher.
