top of page

Joaquim Monteiro

Joaquim Monteiro was born in Rio de Janeiro in 1955. He holds a degree in psychology from Universidade Santa Úrsula, RJ (1983), a master's degree in Chinese Buddhism from Komazawa University, Tokyo, Japan (1997), and a doctorate in Chinese Buddhism from the same university (2000). He was a researcher at the Institute of Buddhist Studies at Doho University, Nagoya (1988-2003), and a professor in the Department of Japanese Language at I-Shou University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan (2003-2005). He was a Pnpd-Capes scholar and a visiting professor in the postgraduate program in religious studies at UFPB (2013-2017). He is currently dedicated to the study and translation of Buddhist literature in Mandarin and to reflecting on contemporary Chinese and Japanese philosophy.

Joaquim Monteiro

The Problem of Logic in Vasubandhu: Focused on the Modalities of the Emptiness of the ātman and the Emptiness of the dharmas

The problem of logic in Vasubandhu needs to be analyzed by reference to the two phases of its development. In the first phase, represented by the ninth and final chapter of the Abhidharmakośa, the central theme consists of the refutation of concepts such as the ātman and the pudgala. Assuming that perception and inference are the only valid means of knowledge, Vasubandhu develops a radical critique of these concepts through an analysis centered on categories such as the five aggregates (skandhas), the twelve entrances (āyatanas), and the eighteen spheres (dhātus). The logical procedures employed here are virtually identical to the assumptions of classical logic. In his second phase, represented by the Thirty Verses on Pure Cognition (Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā), Vasubandhu acknowledges the results of his first phase but establishes the emptiness (śūnyatā) of dharmas as a process in which categories such as aggregates, gateways, and spheres are emptied of their ontological status as ultimate realities, while preserving the refutation of ātman and pudgala as a result of the analysis of these categories. The big question that arises in this context is: does this process of emptying the objects of analysis while simultaneously preserving the results of that same analysis have logical implications? Raising this question is the ultimate goal of this presentation.

©2025 by The XI International Conference of Eastern Philosophy at Unicamp

Brazil-China Study Group

bottom of page