Nāgārjuna and Wittgenstein's Linguistic Anti-Essentialism

Abstract

Nāgārjuna and Ludwig Wittgenstein are both considered titans of their respective philosophical traditions. Despite the massive temporal and geographic distances that separate the two, a number of scholars have pointed out many parallels that run through their work, particularly in their views of language, anti-essentialism, metaphysics, and skepticism. This thesis explores some of those parallels, the perspectives of various Nāgārjuna and Wittgenstein scholars, and contemporary debates which can be informed by their work. Chapters 1 and 2 explicate the views of Nāgārjuna and Wittgenstein, respectively. Chapter 3 compares and contrasts the two with emphasis on their view of linguistic anti-essentialism, similarities in the philosophical traditions that each responded to, the goal of philosophy, and what each philosopher has to contribute to the others’ thought. Chapter 4 applies the contributions of both philosophers to eliminative materialism, a position in analytic philosophy of mind first proposed by Paul Churchland in 1981. Finally, Chapter 5 examines contemporary debates over bioessentialist accounts of gender identity in light of the anti-essentialism held in common by Nāgārjuna, Wittgenstein, and a number of feminist philosophers. Thus, while both Nāgārjuna and Wittgenstein are long dead, their philosophical contributions are alive and highly relevant to social, political, and philosophical debates being had today.