Kulatissa Nanda Jayatilleke (1 November 1920 – 23 July 1970) was an internationally recognised authority on

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

philosophy whose book ''Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge'' has been described as "an outstanding philosophical interpretation of the Buddha's teaching" in the Encyclopedia of Philosophy.Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol. I (New Your, 1967) p420.

Biography

Jayatilleke, was born on 1 November 1920, in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo m ...

, British Ceylon. After completing his secondary education at the

Royal College A royal college in some Commonwealth countries is technically a college which has received royal patronage and permission to use the prefix ''royal''. Permission is usually granted through a royal charter. The charter normally confers a constitut ...

in Colombo, he pursued the study of

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

and

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

at the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Unive ...

obtaining a first class honours degree. He continued his education at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

with a view to acquire a firm grounding in Western philosophy. He obtained a unique training in Eastern and Western thought and an analytical approach to philosophy that provided him with a background that nourished his work throughout his career. Jayatilleke was a Nuffield Fellow in the Humanities, a Fellow of the World Academy of Arts and Science

Hay-Whitney-Fulbright Fellow, an editor of various philosophy journals, and was the Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy at the

, from 1963 until his death in 1970.

Contributions

Jayatilleke is best known as the author of the book ''Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge'', Perhaps the Greatest Book written by a Sri Lankan in the 20th Century Jayatilleke, K.N. Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge. George Allen and Unwin, 1963 https://archive.org/details/EarlyBuddhistTheoryOfKnowledge a work that has been described as a "masterpiece",de Silva MWP. Memorial Tribute to the Late Professor K. N. Jayatilleke. Philosophy East & West, Vol 21, Number 2 (April 1971) and as "an outstanding contribution to the history of Indian philosophy". This book traces the beginnings of ideas relating to the

theory of knowledge Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Ep ...

in pre-Buddhist Indian thought and their development in early Buddhism. It consists of a comprehensive inquiry into the nature of knowledge and the questions relating to the means and limits of knowledge. The book attempts to work out a general methodology for answering questions that arise in the context of profound and sophisticated philosophical discussions, and attempts to show that the Buddha was an empiricist and verificationist who denied the meaningfulness of metaphysical utterances. Jayatilleke describes his book as an "attempt to uncover the epistemological foundations of Pali Canonical thought, from a new point of view and in the light of new material." His basic contentions were that early Buddhism has an empiricist outlook, gives a significant place to the analytic approach in philosophy, and does not contradict the findings of modern science. Jayatilleke was a student of

Ludwig Wittgenstein Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is con ...

, and a teacher of the famous Buddhist scholar,

David Kalupahana David J. Kalupahana (1936–2014) was a Buddhist scholar from Sri Lanka. He was a student of the late K.N. Jayatilleke, who was a student of Wittgenstein. He wrote mainly about epistemology, theory of language, and compared later Buddhist philoso ...

Work

Jayatilleke attempted to work out systematically the

empiricist In philosophy, empiricism is an epistemological theory that holds that knowledge or justification comes only or primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views within epistemology, along with rationalism and skepticism. Empir ...

outlook in the Buddhist theory of knowledge, and to present Buddhism through the idiom, the language and methodology of the contemporary philosopher, in such a way that it would become directly relevant to the contemporary world and help in the resolution of philosophical controversies and the problems of modern man. He emphasised that it is wrong to consider the Buddha as a mere " rationalist" philosopher, and that the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

upheld the value of analytic reason rather than speculative reason. He presented three significant elements in the "new point of view" from which he discussed the thought of the

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During t ...

- the empiricist outlook, the analytical approach, and the scientific attitude. In his book, Jayatilleke cites four ways of examining philosophical questions that bring out the analytic approach in Buddhism: * a question which ought to be explained categorically * a question which ought to be answered with a counter question * a question which ought to be set aside * a question which ought to be explained analytically Jayatilleke had a great respect for modern scientific findings, and considered

rebirth Rebirth may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Film * ''Rebirth'' (2011 film), a 2011 Japanese drama film * ''Rebirth'' (2016 film), a 2016 American thriller film * ''Rebirth'', a documentary film produced by Project Rebirth * ''The Re ...

as a hypothesis capable of being scientifically verified. Apart from his basic writings in the field of epistemology, there are a number of other works. The most significant of these are "Buddhism and the race question" and the Principles of International Law in Buddhist Doctrine. The Message of the Buddha was published posthumously and contains material that he had been working at the time of his death.

Publications

* 1957 ‘A Recent Criticism of Buddhism’ in ''The University of Ceylon Review'', vol. xv. nos. 3 and 4, July-October. * 1963 ''Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge.'' Publisher: George Allen and Unwin. * 1967 ''The Principles of International Law in Buddhist Doctrine '' Recueil des cours, Volume 120 (1967-I), pp. 441–567. * 1967 ''Dhamma, Man and Law.'' Leyden. * 1958 ''Buddhism and the Race Question'' with G. P. Malalasekera (English and French editions) Review author Andrew W. Lind Philosophy East and West, Vol. 8, No. 1/2 (Apr. – Jul. 1958). UNESCO publication. * 1975 ''The Message of the Buddha'' Editor: Dr. Ninian Smart. Publisher: George Allen and Unwin 1974. Buddhist Publication Society 1975 (Posthumous work). * Several Wheel Series Publications, Published by the Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy, Sri Lanka:Buddhist Publication Society P.O. Box 61 54, Sangharaja Mawatha Kandy, Sri Lanka **
Buddhism and Science
' (Wheel #3) **
Buddhism and Peace
' (Wheel #41) **
Knowledge and Conduct
' (Wheel #50) **
Aspects of Buddhist Social Philosophy
' (Wheel #128/129) **
Survival and Karma in Buddhist Perspective
' (Wheel #141/143) **
Facets of Buddhist Thought: Six Essays
' (Wheel #162/164) **
Ethics in Buddhist Perspective
' (Wheel #175/176) **
Significance of Vesak
' (Wheel #178) **
Buddhist Attitude to Other Religions
' (Wheel #216) **
Contemporary Relevance of Buddhist Philosophy
' (Wheel #258) **
Facets of Buddhist Thought: Collected Essays
', Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy 2009. (Contains all of Jayatillekes essays & articles including the ones previously published in ''The Message of the Buddha''.)

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayatilleke, K.N. 1920 births 1970 deaths Buddhist writers Sri Lankan Buddhists Sri Lankan philosophers Jayatilleke, K. N. Alumni of the University of Cambridge Sinhalese academics 20th-century philosophers Historians of India