School
Madhyamaka
Also known as Middle Way school
Mahāyāna Buddhist school founded by Nāgārjuna, which teaches that all things are empty because they arise in dependence on other things.
Madhyamaka, the “middle way” school, traces its origin to Nāgārjuna. Its central claim is that all things are empty (śūnya): nothing exists independently, because everything arises in dependence on other things. Its thinkers used rigorous arguments to show that any view which assumes fixed essences leads to contradiction. It remains central to Tibetan Buddhism.
- Tradition
- Indian
Philosophers
- Nāgārjunafl. 150–250 CE
- Śāntidevafl. 680–760 CE
- Śāntarakṣitac. 725 – c. 788 CE
Sources
- Richard Hayes, Madhyamaka, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy