•  70
    Dao and Process
    Asian Philosophy 12 (3). 2002.
    This paper is about different types of silence, and about differing processes of philosophical investigation and sagely illumination. It is argued that the sagely Dao of wu wei leads to silence in the sense of no spoken words, and the philosophical way of proof leads to silence in the sense of no spoken words. So both proof and wu wei both lead to silence in the sense of no spoken words. Accordingly there is a type of silence that results from the explosive process of philosophical argumentation…Read more
  •  49
    Rationality in early buddhist four fold logic
    Journal of Indian Philosophy 10 (4): 309-337. 1982.
  •  44
    Rationality and Mind in Early Buddhism
    Motilal Banarsidass. 1987, 1992, 2002.
    Chapter 4 MIND AND REBIRTH I The argument of the first three chapters is essentially that the study of early Buddhism is neither methodologically, logically, nor emotively flawed. These chapters argue for the rationality of
  •  42
    The Buddhist Empiricism Thesis: FRANK J. HOFFMAN
    Religious Studies 18 (2): 151-158. 1982.
    In what follows I argue for two interrelated theses: that early Buddhism is not a form of empiricism, and that consequently there is no basis for an early Buddhist apologetic which contrasts an empirical early Buddhism with either a metaphysical Hinduism on the one hand, or with a baseless Christianity on the other
  •  34
    Buddhist Belief ‘In’
    Religious Studies 21 (3): 381-387. 1985.
    Recent articles in Religious Studies have underscored the questions of whether Buddhism presents any empirical doctrines, and whether, if it does, such doctrines are false or vacuous. In what follows I want to sketch an interpretation of Buddhism according to which it does not offer doctrines which are empirically false, on the one hand, or trivially true on the other. In doing so I take my cue from an earlier, and by now classic, paper by H. H. Price. For the exposition of Buddhism I take the P…Read more
  •  31
    This book brings together different intercultural philosophical points of view discussing the philosophical impact of what we call the ‘appropriated’ religions of Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is home to most of the world religions. Buddhism is predominantly practiced in Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Singapore, Laos, and Cambodia; Islam in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei; and Christianity in the Philippines and Timor-Leste. Historical data show, however, that these world religions are imported cu…Read more
  •  29
    More on blasphemy
    Sophia 28 (2): 26-34. 1989.
  •  28
    Buddhist Belief ‘In’: F. J. HOFFMAN
    Religious Studies 21 (3): 381-387. 1985.
    Recent articles in Religious Studies have underscored the questions of whether Buddhism presents any empirical doctrines, and whether, if it does, such doctrines are false or vacuous. In what follows I want to sketch an interpretation of Buddhism according to which it does not offer doctrines which are empirically false, on the one hand, or trivially true on the other. In doing so I take my cue from an earlier, and by now classic, paper by H. H. Price. For the exposition of Buddhism I take the P…Read more
  •  24
    Editorial: Meanings and applications of dao
    Asian Philosophy 12 (3): 155. 2002.
    This Article does not have an abstract
  •  23
    Review of Buddhism, Conflict and Violence in Modern Sri Lanka, edited by Mahinda Deegalle (review)
    Buddhist Studies Review 24 (1): 122-123. 2007.
    Buddhism, Conflict and Violence in Modern Sri Lanka, edited by Mahinda Deegalle, pp. xv + 277, £75.00. ISBN 0 415 35920 1
  •  20
    A Critical Study of Hinduism
    Philosophy East and West 25 (3): 373-373. 1975.
  •  16
    No title available: Religious studies
    Religious Studies 24 (4): 529-533. 1988.
  •  15
    SUMMARY OF INTRODUCTION TO EARLY BUDDHISM Introduction to Early Buddhism by Frank J. Hoffman is a work designed for introducing students to the central philosophical themes and issues in early Buddhism. The book is divided topically into chapters that give an overview of the life of the Buddha, Buddhism and Buddhist texts, Logic, Epistemology, Ethics, and Metaphysics. Each of the chapters focus on a selection of Pali sutta (discourses) that explain the Buddhist position on the topic of that chap…Read more
  •  15
    Global Philosophy of Religion and the Perspectives from Southeast Asia
    In Soraj Hongladarom, Jeremiah Joven Joaquin & Frank J. Hoffman (eds.), Philosophies of Appropriated Religions: Perspectives from Southeast Asia, Springer Nature Singapore. pp. 1-8. 2023.
    Global Philosophy of Religion is a constructive approach to the philosophy of religion. It aims to incorporate various religious perspectives to diversify the field’s theoretical and practical resources. Proponents of this approach hope that these diverse resources may aid in the progress of the traditional problems of the field. In this introductory chapter, we discuss how the perspectives from Southeast Asia, particularly those from what we call “appropriated religions,” may help in this endea…Read more
  •  15
    No Title available
    Religious Studies 21 (4): 594-595. 1985.
  •  14
    No Title available: REVIEWS
    Religious Studies 19 (1): 119-122. 1983.
  •  12
    Google, ChatGPT, questions of omniscience and wisdom
    Asian Philosophy 1-15. forthcoming.
    The article explores how platforms like Google and ChatGPT, which claim omniscience and wisdom-like attributes, prompt philosophical questions. It revisits religious perspectives on omniscience and their influence on the pursuit of wisdom. The article suggests that while Google may offer compartmentalized omniscience based on user preferences, ChatGPT’s factual accuracy challenges its characterization as omniscient. Nonetheless, ChatGPT can still help humans progress toward wisdom, by integratin…Read more
  •  9
    Book reviews (review)
    with Harry Oldmeadow, Karel Werner, David E. Cooper, Whalen Lai, and A. L. Herman
    Asian Philosophy 7 (3): 235-252. 1997.
    Enlightenment East and West Leonard Angel, 1994 Albany, State University of New York Press 388 pp. Visions of Power: Imagining Medieval Japanese Buddhism Bernard Faure, trans, by Phyius Brooks, 1996 Princeton, Princeton University Press 329 pp. Pāli Buddhism. Curzon Studies in Asian Philosophy Frank J. Hoffman & Deegaixe Mahinda, 1996 Richmond, Curzon Press xiii + 233 pp., ISBN 0 7007 0359 4, hb £40 Friendship East and West: philosophical perspectives Oliver Leaman, 1996 Richmond UK, Curzon Pres…Read more
  •  7
    Breaking Barriers is a collection of invited contributions by distinguished philosophers, scientists, and religious thinkers of East and West in honor of Professor Ramakrishna Puligandla. The twenty-three essays in this volume may be divided into four groups: Philosophy of Advaita, Buddhism, Indian Philosophy and Physics, and Asian and Comparative Thought. Contributors have written on topics such as the phenomenology of consciousness, science and religion, and comparative philosophy and religion…Read more
  •  7
    Taking a Point of View on a Debatable Question Concerning Karma and Rebirth
    In Soraj Hongladarom, Jeremiah Joven Joaquin & Frank J. Hoffman (eds.), Philosophies of Appropriated Religions: Perspectives from Southeast Asia, Springer Nature Singapore. pp. 93-103. 2023.
    My thesis is that there is a way to mediate between two competing views about karma and rebirth by arguing for a third position. The first, or traditionalist view, is that supernatural agencies are required in the Buddhist system of concepts and that secularism and naturalized karma view will not supply concepts necessary for traditional Buddhism. The second, or modernist view, holds the opposite view. Supernatural agencies are not required in the Buddhist system of concepts, and even without tr…Read more
  •  6
    No title available: Religious studies
    Religious Studies 19 (2): 268-270. 1983.
  •  6
    No title available: Religious studies
    Religious Studies 21 (3): 439-441. 1985.
  •  6
    No title available: Religious studies
    Religious Studies 29 (3): 408-411. 1993.
  •  6
    Process concepts of text, practice, and no self in Buddhism
    In William Sweet (ed.), Migrating Texts and Traditions, University of Ottawa Press. pp. 221-232. 2012.
  •  5
    No title available: Religious studies
    Religious Studies 32 (1): 135-137. 1996.
  •  5
    No title available: Religious studies
    Religious Studies 23 (1): 153-154. 1987.
  •  4
    No title available: Religious studies
    Religious Studies 16 (4): 506-509. 1980.