The Long ConversationA timeline of world philosophy

Philosopher

Nāgārjuna

fl. 150–250 CE

Also known as Nagarjuna

Buddhist philosopher who founded the Madhyamaka ('middle way') school, arguing that all things are empty of intrinsic nature.

Faded painting of a seated monk in orange robes holding a ritual implement, beside calligraphy
From the Seven Shingon Patriarchs, Tō-ji temple, Kyoto, 821 CE, painted some six centuries after his lifetime.Tō-ji, Kyoto · Public domain · See the original

Nāgārjuna is widely regarded as the most important Buddhist philosopher after the Buddha. His central idea is emptiness (śūnyatā): nothing exists independently or has a fixed essence of its own, because everything arises in dependence on other things. He used rigorous arguments to show that views assuming such essences lead to contradictions.

Almost nothing certain is known about his life, and his dates are approximate.

Key ideas

Emptiness (śūnyatā)
Everything is empty of svabhāva, often translated “intrinsic nature”. Nothing exists as an independent substance with an existence of its own.
No foundations
The ways things depend on one another (on their parts, their causes and the mind that conceives them) never come to an end. In particular, nothing exists independently of how it is conceptualised.
Causation examined
Things aren’t produced from themselves, from other things, from both or from neither. Nāgārjuna concluded not that causation is impossible, but that it’s a mistake to think of cause and effect as having intrinsic natures.
The two truths
Nāgārjuna stressed that the Buddha taught two kinds of truth. Conventional truth can be expressed in language. The highest goal, nirvana, is a silence of the mind beyond concepts, and cannot.
Tradition
Indian
Region
India
Schools
Madhyamaka

Influences

Influenced by

Nāgārjunafl. 150–250 CE

Influenced

Influenced by

Nāgārjunafl. 150–250 CE

Influenced

Where these links come from
  • Nāgārjuna drew on The Buddha. Source: Jan Westerhoff, Nāgārjuna, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Gauḍapāda drew on Nāgārjuna. Source: Devanathan Jagannathan, Gaudapada, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Śāntideva drew on Nāgārjuna. Source: Charles Goodman, Śāntideva, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  • Śāntarakṣita drew on Nāgārjuna. Source: James Blumenthal and James Apple, Śāntarakṣita, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Key works

  • Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way (Mūlamadhyamakakārikā)

Sources

  1. Jan Westerhoff, Nāgārjuna, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
  2. Richard Hayes, Madhyamaka, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy