Philosopy Speakers: Miri Albahari (W. Australia), “Awakening to the Possibility of Nibbāna

About the Talk The ultimate goal of Buddhist practice is nibbāna, or ‘awakening’: an extraordinary psychological transformation that is said to be brought about by a profound insight into the nature of reality. The transformative experience most centrally involves a complete release from all psychological desires and attachments, and the sufferings they entail, coupled with an immense joy and compassion. Eliciting this transformation is an insight into reality, that includes, minimally, a direct first-person realisation that the core self – the thinking, desiring thing on behalf of which we feel motivated to act – is a cognitive illusion. So, is nibbāna really possible – indicative of a genuine psychological capacity – or is it just an artefact of tradition? If nibbāna is possible, it could have widespread philosophical implications for the nature of mind and reality. Its possibility will partly depend upon (i) the psychological plausibility of such a remarkable cognitive transformation coming about and (ii) the metaphysical likelihood that the wider content of the transformative insight, which is supposed to underpin the realisation that there is no self, holds true. In this paper, I say more about these conditions in relation to the likelihood of nibbāna. About the Speaker Miri Albahari (PhD UCalgary 2005) is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Western Australia. Her key research is on the intersection of Metaphysics, Epistemology, Philosophy of Mind, and Eastern/Asian Philosophy. She is attempting to build a metaphysical and epistemological framework for what Aldous Huxley has called the “Perennial Philosophy”. Albahari is the author of Analytical Buddhism: The Two-Tiered Illusion of Self (Palgrave Macmillan 2006). Her most recent journal articles include “Insight Knowledge of No Self in Buddhism: An Epistemic Analysis,” Philosophers’ Imprint (2014) and “Alief or Belief? A Contextual Approach to Belief Ascription,” Philosophical Studies (2014).

Location:

Social Sciences 1253

More information at http://www.ucalgary.ca/events/calendar/philosopy-speakers-miri-albahari-w-australia-awakening-possibility-nibbana