All perspectives

Perspective voyage · From the fifth century BCE

Buddhist not-self — Continuity without an owner

If experiences form a causal stream, must we posit an unchanging owner behind it?

The question that moves this idea

What makes a mind and a self persist?

Instead of memorizing a conclusion, follow the evidence scenes to see what this perspective distinguishes and where its explanation stops.

Scene 1 / 2Evidence-linked account

Indian Buddhist theories analyze mental life as interrelated physical and psychological processes rather than the activity of an independent, enduring substantial self.

Open evidence for this scene

This sentence is an editorial paraphrase linked to the listed sources, not a direct quotation.

  • Mind in Indian Buddhist Philosophy

    Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

    Locator: Introduction; §1 History of the Issue

    Open source

Time × place

Where the idea met time and place

We do not invent a birthplace for an idea. Only evidence-backed events such as writing, publication, teaching, and reception appear here.

450 BCE · From the fifth century BCE

Not-self analysis opens a tradition that treats persons as aggregates and causal processes.

Keep the voyage moving

Where should this perspective lead?