A Yogācāra Buddhist Theory of Metaphor

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 Yogācāra school of Indian Buddhism: that all language-use is metaphorical. Exploring the profound implications of this claim, Tzohar makes the case for viewing the Yogācāra 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 Yogācāra 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 Yogācāra controversy with the Madhyamaka school of philosophy, sheds light on the Yogācāra application of particular metaphors, and explicates the school's unique understanding of experience.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction 1. What do Buddhists have to say on figurative language? 2. A bit of methodology: on determining the relevant textual field and handling intertextual-borrowing. 3. An Outline PART 1 Chapter I Metaphor as Absence: The case of the Early Nyaya and Mimamsa. Chapter II Metaphor as Perceptual Illusion: Figurative Meaning in Bhartrhari's Vakyapadiya PART 2 Chapter III It's a Bear... No, It's a Man... No, it's a Metaphor! Asanga on the Proliferation of Figures Chapter IV The Seeds of the Pan-Figurative View: Metaphor in Other Buddhist Sources PART 3 Chapter V What It All Comes Down To: Sthiramati's Pan-Metaphorical Claim and Its Implications Chapter VI Conversing With a Buddha: The Yogacara Conception of Linguistic and Perceptual Meaning as a Means for Overcoming Incommensurability Conclusion: The Alterity of Metaphor Appendix A: Translation and exposition of Vakyapadiya 2.250-256 Appendix B: A Running translation of the Vakyapadiya 2.285-2.297 References Index

About the Author :
Roy Tzohar is Associate Professor at Tel Aviv University.

Review :
"This work is a philosophically technical treatment appropriate for scholars of Yog=ac=ara and Mah=ay=ana thought generally, as well as those interested in how language is addressed by Indian Buddhist thinkers. It is a challenging work in its detailed progression through the relevant texts, but the architectonic is very clear and provides careful guidance through these issues." -- Richard K. Payne, Canadian Journal of Buddhist Studies "By refusing to bracket the soteriological concerns of Buddhist philosophers while nevertheless putting them in philosophical English, Tzohar invites philosophers into a new conversation where the stakes are in fact quite high. That he is able to do this while staying true to the unfamiliar intuitions sometimes expressed in Indian Buddhist and non-Buddhist traditions is an admirable accomplishment." -- Journal of Religion "Rare is the academic monograph that combines the precision of painstaking textual and conceptual analysis with the kinds of dazzling and innovative insights that have the capacity to give rise to many new areas of inquiry in an already established field. Such is what Roy Tzohar accomplishes in A Yogacara Buddhist Theory of Metaphor...Because this book both breaks new ground, and does so in a methodical, comprehensive, and intellectually challenging fashion, itis essential reading for students of Yogacara thought and South Asian philosophy of language, and is to be highly recommended to students of Buddhist philosophy more generally." -- Joy Brennan, Kenyon College, Journal of Buddhist Ethics "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 "[T]he book is an extremely valuable and insightful contribution to the study of Indian theories of language and meaning...In sum, Tzohar's book presents an innovative approach that shows how Yogac=ara Buddhist philosophers developed their views in close interaction with non-Buddhist and non-Mah=ay=ana thoughts on language and epistemology. Obviously sympathetic with Sthiramati, Tzohar develops a reconstruction of the pan-metaphorical theory that he personally finds convincing. As such, the work can also be located in the field of comparative philosophy." -- Reading Religion