ABSTRACT
In Reasons and Persons, Derek Parfit quoted passages from Th. Stcherbatsky's English translation of the ninth chapter of Vasubandhu's Treasury of Knowledge (Abhidharmakośa), a 5th century Buddhist text, in support of his claim that the adoption of a reductionist theory of persons is not a peculiarly Western phenomenon. 1 This chapter has been recently retranslated into English, under the title, ‘Refutation of the Theory of Selfhood: a Resolution of the Questions About Persons’ specifically for the purpose of facilitating its careful study by Western philosophers. 2 This new translation, which I shall call the ‘Refutation,’ does indeed help us to see that the chapter contains what may be regarded as the classic statement of the Buddhist version of the reductionist theory of persons of the sort held by David Hume and Parfit himself. 3 In what follows I shall show that Vasubandhu's statement is in fact a statement of the reductionist theory and explain in some detail the form this theory takes. Moreover, since the scripture-based Sautrāntika theory set out in Vasubandhu's statement is virtually the same as the Vaibhāṣika theory (as well as the Theravāda theory), and is one with the theories held by the Sautrāntika logicians, Yogacārins, and Svātantrika-Mādhyamikas in its reductionist character, I shall use it here to illustrate the reductionist character of the theory of persons attributed to the Buddha within most of the Indian Buddhist schools of philosophy. 4
