ABSTRACT
§To count as a great, a philosopher must rethink a past intellectual history in such a way that the landscape is irrevocably altered. The fifth-century philosopher Buddhaghosa influenced conceptions of the human throughout South and Southeast Asia for a millennium and a half, and continues to do so today. I will give three examples of his greatness: as the founder of a distinct stance in philosophy, Attentionalism; as transforming an ancient metaphor in order to provide a new understanding of human agency; and as providing a sophisticated analysis of our engagement with each other in the social world.
