Anattatā and Nibbāna in the View of Peter Harvey

Abstract

This article was an attempt to study anattatā and nibbāna in Peter Harvey’s view. From the study, it was found that Harvey made an attempt to show that the Buddha did deny the concept of attā or the self. He tried to argue against the arguments of those who hold that the Buddha accepted attā and also proposed an explanation of nibbāna so as to support nibbāna as anattā. According to Harvey, nibbāna in Buddhism refers to stopped and objectless discernment or consciousness (viññāöa). However, his view encountered the problem that the concept of stopped consciousness was incompatible with the doctrines and evidences in Buddhism and similar to that of attā. A crucial cause of the problem was the interpretation or translation of the Buddha’s words that differed from the explanation in the Commentary