Awards

• Winner of Winner, 2022 Kadar Family Award for Outstanding Research, Tel Aviv University Winner, 2018 Toshihide Numata Book Award.

Overview

Buddhist philosophy is fundamentally ambivalent toward language. Language is paradoxically seen as both obstructive and necessary for liberation. In this book, Roy Tzohar delves into the ingenious response to this tension from the Yogacara school of Indian Buddhism: that all language-use is metaphorical. Exploring the profound implications of this claim, Tzohar makes the case for viewing the Yogacara account as a full-fledged theory of meaning, one that is not merely linguistic, but also applicable both in the world as well as in texts. Despite the overwhelming visibility of figurative language in Buddhist philosophical texts, this is the first sustained and systematic attempt to present an indigenous Buddhist theory of metaphor. By grounding the Yogacara pan-metaphorical claim in a broader intellectual context, of both Buddhist and non-Buddhist schools, the book uncovers an intense philosophical conversation about metaphor and language that reaches across sectarian lines. Tzohar's analysis radically reframes the Yogacara controversy with the Madhyamaka school of philosophy, sheds light on the Yogacara application of particular metaphors, and explicates the school's unique understanding of experience.

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9780190664398

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Reviews

Scholars both traditional and modern have been slow to recognize the significance and innovation in the works of Sthiramati, a brilliant sixth-century Indian Buddhist philosopher of the Yogacara school. Tzohar's fascinating work brings Sthiramati's contributions to light by locating them in the philosophical conversations of their time and tradition. In addition, Tzohar traces the logic in familiar philosophical terms, showing how Sthiramati's approach to language, reality and meaning is significant for our time as well. * Jonathan C. Gold, author of Paving the Great Way: Vasubandhu's Unifying Buddhist Philosophy * In this magnificent and trailblazing book Roy Tzohar reconstructs a Buddhist philosophical defense of the radical thesis that all language is metaphor. The manner in which he does thisshowing that Buddhist thinkers had sophisticated indigenous theoretical tools to argue for their claim, situating the Buddhist view in a proper intellectual context comprising contemporaneous non-Buddhist philosophers, and rehabilitating one particular Buddhist, Sthiramati (470550), as a strikingly innovative thinker in his own rightis methodologically exemplary. A tremendous achievement. * Jonardon Ganeri, author of Attention, Not Self * Roy Tzohar's volume, the first study of its kind in English, provides a detailed yet accessible analysis of early Indian philosophy of language in general, and Yogacara theory of metaphor (upacara) in particular. The result is a stunning integration of philosophical sophistication and philological rigoran invaluable contribution not only to our understanding of early Indian theories of language, but also to our appreciation of Yogacara thought. * Robert H. Sharf, D.H. Chen Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of California, Berkeley *

Roy Tzohar's volume, the first study of its kind in English, provides a detailed yet accessible analysis of early Indian philosophy of language in general, and Yogacara theory of metaphor (upacara) in particular. The result is a stunning integration of philosophical sophistication and philological rigor-an invaluable contribution not only to our understanding of early Indian theories of language, but also to our appreciation of Yogacara thought. --Robert H. Sharf, D.H. Chen Distinguished Professor of Buddhist Studies, University of California, Berkeley In this magnificent and trailblazing book Roy Tzohar reconstructs a Buddhist philosophical defense of the radical thesis that all language is metaphor. The manner in which he does this-showing that Buddhist thinkers had sophisticated indigenous theoretical tools to argue for their claim, situating the Buddhist view in a proper intellectual context comprising contemporaneous non-Buddhist philosophers, and rehabilitating one particular Buddhist, Sthiramati (470-550), as a strikingly innovative thinker in his own right-is methodologically exemplary. A tremendous achievement. -Jonardon Ganeri, author of Attention, Not Self Scholars both traditional and modern have been slow to recognize the significance and innovation in the works of Sthiramati, a brilliant sixth-century Indian Buddhist philosopher of the Yogacara school. Tzohar's fascinating work brings Sthiramati's contributions to light by locating them in the philosophical conversations of their time and tradition. In addition, Tzohar traces the logic in familiar philosophical terms, showing how Sthiramati's approach to language, reality and meaning is significant for our time as well. --Jonathan C. Gold, author of Paving the Great Way: Vasubandhu's Unifying Buddhist Philosophy

Author Information

Roy Tzohar is Associate Professor at Tel Aviv University.

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