Knowra Svabhāva Svabhāva Svabhāva is intrinsic nature or self-existence: the idea that something exists in its own right, independently of causes and conditions. Buddhist philosophers dispute whether anything has svabhāva.
Dependent origination : The principle that phenomena arise through causes and conditions rather than independently. Its conditional account of existence directly challenges the independence implied by svabhāva.
Madhyamaka : A Buddhist philosophical tradition that argues phenomena lack intrinsic existence. Madhyamaka makes the critique of svabhāva its central philosophical task.
Nyāya : An Indian philosophical school that defends realism about objects, properties, and knowledge. Nyāya realism provides a contrast to Buddhist denials of independently existing entities.
Pāli Canon : The principal collection of scriptures preserved by Theravāda Buddhist traditions. Early Buddhist discussions of conditioned phenomena form important background to later debates about svabhāva.
Conventional truth : Truth expressed through ordinary practices, concepts, and distinctions. It preserves the practical use of descriptions even when they do not identify intrinsic natures.
Emptiness : The absence of intrinsic existence in phenomena, especially in Buddhist philosophy. Emptiness names the lack of svabhāva that Madhyamaka arguments seek to establish.
Nāgārjuna : An influential Indian Buddhist philosopher associated with the founding of Madhyamaka. His arguments examine whether things can arise, change, or function if they possess svabhāva.
Vaiśeṣika : An Indian philosophical school that analyzes reality through categories such as substance, quality, and motion. Its enduring substances offer a clear contrast with Madhyamaka’s critique of intrinsic nature.
Abhidharma : Buddhist philosophical and analytical systems that classify experience and phenomena. Abhidharma traditions developed detailed accounts of phenomena that later shaped disputes over their nature.
Ultimate truth : The deepest account of reality in a Buddhist framework, often identified with emptiness. It concerns what analysis reveals when claims to svabhāva are examined.
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