Philosopher · Classical antiquity · India

Nagarjuna

c. 150–c. 250

Indian Buddhist thinker, founder of the Madhyamaka middle way school, who argued that all things are empty of inherent existence. His Mulamadhyamakakarika is the central text of Mahayana philosophy. He lived about 150 to 250.

Facts

Lived: About 150 to 250, in southern India.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Nagarjuna
From: India, of the Satavahana period.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Nagarjuna
School: Madhyamaka, the middle way between existence and nonexistence.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Nagarjuna
Known for: The doctrine of emptiness: things exist only in dependence on causes and concepts, and the two truths, conventional and ultimate.; Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica, Nagarjuna

Images

Nagarjuna in a Tibetan thangka painting (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Connected

PhilosopherThe Buddhac. 563–c. 483 BC (traditional)

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