>JCJC777 at 11:38, 7 October 2020

2020-10-07T11:38:19Z

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'''Critical Buddhism''' (Japanese: 批判仏教, hihan bukkyō) was a trend in [[Japan]]ese Buddhist scholarship, associated primarily with the works of [[Hakamaya Noriaki]] (袴谷憲昭) and [[Matsumoto Shirō]] (松本史朗).

Hakamaya stated that "'[[Buddhism]] is [[criticism]]' or that 'only that which is critical is Buddhism.'"<ref name="topical">{{cite journal |last=Hakamaya|first=Noriaki|year=1997 |title=Critical Philosophy versus Topical Philosophy|editor=Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson|journal=Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism|pages=56–80 |publisher=Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=0-8248-1949-7}}</ref> He contrasted it with what he called ''Topical Buddhism'', in comparison to the concepts of [[critical philosophy]] and topical [[philosophy]].<ref name="topical"/> According to [[Lin Chen-kuo (writer)|Lin Chen-kuo]], Hakamaya's view is that "Critical Buddhism sees methodical, rational critique as belonging to the very foundations of [[Buddhism]] itself, while 'Topical Buddhism' emphasizes the priority of rhetoric over logical thinking, of [[ontology]] over [[epistemology]]."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lin|first=Chen-kuo|year=1997 |title=Metaphysics, Suffering, and Liberation: The Debate between Two Buddhisms|editor=Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson|journal=Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism|pages=298–313 |publisher=Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=0-8248-1949-7}}</ref>

Critical Buddhism targeted specifically certain concepts prevalent in Japanese Mahayana Buddhism and rejected them as being non-buddhist.
For example, Matsumoto Shirō and Hakamaya Noriaki rejected the doctrine of [[Tathagatagarbha]], which according to their view was at odds with the fundamental Buddhist doctrine of [[dependent origination]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Matsumoto|first=Shirō|year=1997 |title=The Doctrine of "Tathgata-garbha" Is Not Buddhist|editor=Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson|journal=Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism|pages=165–173 |publisher=Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press |isbn=0-8248-1949-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Hakamaya|first=Noriaki|year=1997|title=Critical Philosophy Versus Topical Philosophy|editor=Jamie Hubbard|journal=Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm Over Critical Buddhism|publisher=Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press}}</ref>

Critical Buddhism became known to Western scholarship due to a panel discussion held at the American Academy of Religion's 1993 meeting in Washington, DC with the title "Critical Buddhism: Issues and Responses to a New Methodological Movement", which led to an English collection of essays.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Hubbard|editor1-first=Jamie|editor2-last=Swanson|editor2-first=Paul L.|title=Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism|isbn=978-0-8248-1949-1|year=1997}}</ref>

The movement is seen as having peaked in 1997 and having declined by 2001.<ref>[[Steven Heine]], https://www.jstor.org/stable/30233679?seq=1</ref>

== See also ==
* [[Koshin]]
* [[Buddhist logic]]
* [[Critical theory]]
* [[Criticism of Buddhism#Buddhist self-criticism]]
* [[Hongaku]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Stone, Jaquelin (1999). [https://web.archive.org/web/20140322185001/http://www.princeton.edu/~jstone/Review%20essays%20and%20field%20overviews/Some%20Reflections%20on%20Critical%20Buddhism%20%281999%29.pdf "Some Reflections on Critical Buddhism"], Review: Jamie Hubbard and Paul L. Swanson, Pruning the Bodhi Tree: The Storm over Critical Buddhism. Japanese Journal of Religious Studies 26 (1-2), 159-188
* {{cite book|last=Shields|first=James Mark|title= Critical Buddhism - Engaging with Modern Japanese Buddhist Thought|year=2011|isbn=978-1-4094-1800-9|publisher=Ashgate}}

{{Buddhism topics}}
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[[Category:Buddhism in Japan]]

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Critical Buddhism - Revision history

>JCJC777 at 11:38, 7 October 2020