Nāgārjuna

All things are empty of inherent existence.

Buddhist philosophyvers 150 – 250 IndiaBuddhist philosopherFounder of the Middle Way school (Madhyamaka)DialecticianLittle-known life

Inspirations

Le Bouddha (Siddhārtha Gautama)he appeals to his teaching (dependent origination, instruction to Kātyāyana)

Les écoles de l'Abhidharmathey classify phenomena into elements with a good or bad own-nature (cf. VV 7)

critic

Les logiciens réalistes (style Nyāya)opponents targeted by the Vigrahavyāvartanī

critic

Heirs

Candrakīrtihis commentary (Prasannapadā) fixes a major reading

Kumārajīvatranslates the Verses into Chinese (409): the basis of the Chinese Sanlun school

Tsongkhapathe great Tibetan reading of the Middle Way

David Hume modern comparison on the self without substance (bundle of perceptions), no link of influence

how it is computed

Closest

Democritus Nothing exists but atoms and the void.

Albert Einstein The physicist of relativity: simultaneity depends on the observer, and there is no 'now' valid for the whole universe.

Zhuangzi Our views of the world shift like dreams: the sage welcomes them all and follows the transformation of things.

Stephen Jay Gould Palaeontologist. The oddities of living things, like the panda's "thumb", are traces of a history, not an engineer's signature.

Furthest

Thomas Reid We are the true authors of our acts: an agent can be the cause of what it does.

Martin Luther King Jr. Minister and leader of the civil rights movement: he defends nonviolent disobedience to unjust laws, openly and accepting the penalty.