The presentation of the Vinaya within forms of Western scholarship

Introduction This chapter is concerned with the way the Pāli Vinaya was sometimes presented as a rational and self-sufficient code that required obedience and conformity of behaviour. I call this form of presentation ‘Buddhist Legal Rationalism’ (BLR). This mode of presenting the Vinaya was advocated by Oldenberg, Thomas and Caroline Rhys Davids, Dutt and Dhirasekera. For convenience, I will call this group the ‘translators’, recognizing that the last two of these scholars only wrote articles and books concerning the Vinaya.