{"id":3518,"date":"2014-01-18T18:09:04","date_gmt":"2014-01-18T18:09:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/?p=3518"},"modified":"2014-01-21T09:51:27","modified_gmt":"2014-01-21T09:51:27","slug":"r-i-p-david-kalupahana-a-giant-in-the-field-of-buddhist-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/americanbuddhist\/2014\/01\/r-i-p-david-kalupahana-a-giant-in-the-field-of-buddhist-philosophy.html","title":{"rendered":"R.I.P. David Kalupahana, a giant in the field of Buddhist Philosophy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Professor David J Kalupahana via www.chinabuddhismencyclopedia.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Colombo Page, a Sri Lankan online newspaper, has reported<\/a> that the great writer and professor of Buddhist philosophy<\/a>, David J. Kalupahana, passed away January 15 in Honolulu, Hawai\u2019i.*<\/p>\n

Kalupahana retired in 2000 as professor of philosophy at the University of Hawai\u2019i at Manoa<\/a>, a department internationally recognized for its East-West philosophical focus.\u00a0He earlier served as the Chairman of the Department of Philosophy.<\/p>\n

His works on Buddhist Philosophy<\/a> and Buddhist Ethics<\/a> were ground-breaking in their use of analytic philosophy to develop and expound the ideas of great Buddhist thinkers. His doctoral thesis at the University of London brought together his depth of understanding of Pali philosophy with Chinese Agama studies to create an influential analysis of the Buddhist understandings of truth and causality.<\/p>\n

Later works, like those above, developed specific themes in Buddhist philosophy, including The Principles of Buddhist Psychology<\/a>\u00a0(1987), The Buddha\u2019s Philosophy of Language<\/a> (1999), and The Buddha and the Concept of Peace<\/a> (1999). He also produced translations of the Dhammapada<\/a> (with Pali) and Nagarjuna\u2019s Middle Verses<\/a>, a philosophical study of Nagarjuna\u2019s great work<\/a>, and a biography of the Buddha<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As voluminous as his work was, it was equally deep and insightful. Many generations of future scholars of Buddhist philosophy will continue to rely on his work as a starting point, either to agree and press forward, or to attempt to carry the conversation in different directions.<\/p>\n

Sri Lankans of Hawaii awarded Prof. Kalupahana the \u201cSon of Sri Lanka\u201d award last year, writes the Colombo Page. He is survived by his wife Indrani, two sons: Nandana and Milinda, as well as a daughter, Deemathi. The funeral service will be held\u00a0on January 21st 2014, at 2:30<\/s> 3:00 p.m. at the Oahu Cemetery in Honolulu.<\/p>\n

This post may be updated with further reports and eulogies as they become available.<\/p>\n

1\/21 update: an obituary<\/a> has been posted in a Hawai\u2019i newspaper.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Colombo Page, a Sri Lankan online newspaper, has reported that the great writer and professor of Buddhist philosophy, David J. Kalupahana, passed away January 15 in Honolulu, Hawai\u2019i.* Kalupahana retired in 2000 as professor of philosophy at the University of Hawai\u2019i at Manoa, a department internationally recognized for its East-West philosophical focus.\u00a0He earlier served […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":3519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,15,5,6],"tags":[86,94],"class_list":["post-3518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academia","category-buddhism","category-buddhist-ethics","category-western-philosophy","tag-academia-2","tag-buddhist-philosophy"],"yoast_head":"\nR.I.P. 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