| This work in comparative philosophy focuses on M. Merleau-Ponty (Western Continental tradition) and Nagarjuna (Eastern, Indian-Buddhist tradition). Ontology and language are the two main areas of interrogation and investigation. The main intention is to show the connections between the experiential notions of Merleau-Ponty's flesh and Nagarjuna's understanding of sunyata (emptiness). In this regard, particular emphases are placed on the roles of reversibility and pratitya-samutpada (relational origination). The introduction regarding the nature of comparative philosophy and its methodologies is followed by three general sections. Chapters two, three, and four are devoted to Merleau-Ponty. They explore his place within the continental tradition, his late ontology and the role language plays in this ontology. The next three chapters follow a similar structure with regard to Nagarjuna. The last two chapters compare and synthesize the philosophies of these two thinkers. The intention of these chapters is to provide an existential ground for ethics. |
