Jay Garfield

Life

• Jay Garfield: Born in 1955, New York City; earned BA from Hampshire College (1976) and PhD from University of Pittsburgh (1989).
• Professor of Philosophy at Smith College (1989-2015) and currently at Harvard Divinity School.
• Director of the Smith College Logic Program and the Five College Tibetan Studies program.
• Ordained Buddhist monk (1985) in the Tibetan tradition.

People Who Influenced Their Thought

• Nāgārjuna: His Madhyamaka philosophy shaped Garfield's interpretation of emptiness.
• Graham Priest: Collaborated on paraconsistent logic and Buddhist philosophy.
• Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel: Influenced his dialectical approach to philosophy.

Main Ideas and Publications

• Engaging Buddhism: Published 2015, bridges Western philosophy and Buddhist thought.
• The Fundamental Wisdom of the Middle Way: 1995 translation and commentary on Nāgārjuna's Mūlamadhyamakakārikā.
• What Can't Be Said: 2021 (with Priest) explores paradox in philosophy.
• Buddhist Philosophy of Mind: Interprets consciousness through Madhyamaka and Yogācāra frameworks.

Key People Influenced by Their Thought

• Evan Thompson: Engages with Garfield's Buddhist-philosophical synthesis.
• Jan Westerhoff: Builds on Garfield's work on Nāgārjuna.
• Graham Priest: Continued collaboration on paraconsistent logic.

Conclusion

• Jay Garfield has created groundbreaking syntheses of Buddhist philosophy and Western thought, transforming contemporary understanding of consciousness, logic and metaphysics.