ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will examine the third characteristic of existence, that is, not-self, in more depth. I will argue that, according to many Buddhist philosophers, there is a further dimension to this teaching. For these thinkers, things are without a self or essence in the sense that they are unreal or fabrications. These Buddhists are thus ‘anti-realists’. It is not simply that entities are devoid of self in the sense that they are dependently originating and have no permanent, abiding nature. In addition, they are mental constructions. They do not exist independently of the mind. And knowledge of this unreality of things is, as the deepest meaning of the third characteristic of existence, thought to be necessary for liberation from craving and suffering. My initial focus will be on Madhyamaka school of Mahâyâna Buddhism and its teaching of emptiness (úûnyatâ). I will then discuss Sarvâstivâda Abhidharma, Sautrântika and Yogâcâra Buddhism as varieties of anti-realism.
