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A History of Early Buddhism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2008

John Ross Carter
Affiliation:
Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Chapel House, Colgate University

Extract

This article has developed in response to a series of observations made over a decade ago by Wilfred Cantwell Smith in his The Meaning and End of Religion. In that work, Smith made the point that the concepts ‘religion’, ‘religions’, ‘Hinduism’ and ‘Buddhism’ are rather recent, of Western origin, and, in an attempt to understand mankind's religiousness, inadequate. In developing his argument, Smith considered the Buddhist case with penetrating insight but, because his thesis was of such comprehensive scope, chose not to go into a detailed consideration of relevant matters in the Theravāda Buddhist tradition.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1977

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