Religion and Theology
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About the Department
Research
Paul Williams
Emeritus Professor of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy
BA (Sussex), DPhil (Oxon)
E-mail: paul.williams@bristol.ac.uk
Biography
Born 12/9/1950. Married with three grown-up children and several grandchildren.
BA (First Class), School of African and Asian Studies, University of Sussex (1972)
DPhil (Buddhist Philosophy), Oriental Institute and Wadham College, University of Oxford (1978)
Hobbies: Walking, talking, jogging, regular gym-work, enjoying history and the countryside (especially around our dacha in Shropshire), listening to music, and drinking wine. Lay member of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans).
Research
Most of my work has been on Madhyamaka Buddhist philosophy, a school of Buddhism which developed in India probably initially during the first century C.E. and had a wide influence on Buddhist thought throughout India, Tibet and East Asia. In particular this tradition was often taken in Tibet as the final philosophical position of Buddhism, and it has been studied as such by Tibetans to the present day. I have also worked on the Tibetan assimilation and scholastic extension of Madhyamaka ideas, notably the complex understanding developed by a sub-school known as Prasangika Madhyamaka. More recently I have become particularly interested in medieval Western philosophical and mystical theology.
Main Publications
- Buddhist Funeral Cultures of Southeast Asia and China Edited by Paul Williams and Patrice Ladwig (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012). ISBN 978-1-107-00388-0.
- 'Catholicism and Buddhism', in The Catholic Church and the World Religions Edited by Gavin D'Costa (London: Continuum, 20011), pp. 141-177. ISBN 978-0-567-46697-6
- Buddhism from a Catholic Perspective (London: Catholic Truth Society, 2006). ISBN 978-1-86082-404-3
- Buddhism: Critical Concepts in Religious Studies Edited and with a new introduction by Paul Williams (London: Routledge, 2005). Eight volumes. ISBN 978-0-415-33226-2
- Songs of Love, Poems of Sadness: The Erotic Verse of the 6th Dalai Lama (IB Taurus, 2004). ISBN 978-1-85043-479-5
- The Unexpected Way: On Converting from Buddhism to Catholicism (London: Continuum/T & T Clark, 2002). ISBN 978-0-567-08830-7. Translations in German and Polish.
- (with Anthony Tribe) Buddhist Thought: A Complete Introduction to the Indian Tradition (London: Routledge, 2000; completely revised Second Edition, with Anthony Tribe and Alexander Wynne, 2011). ISBN 978-0-415-57179-1. Translations of First Edition in Italian, Korean and Czech.
- Altruism and Reality: Studies in the Philosophy of the Bodhicaryāvatāra (Richmond: Curzon Press, 1998). ISBN 978-0-7007-1031-7
- The Reflexive Nature of Awareness: A Tibetan Madhyamaka Defence (Richmond: Curzon Press, 1998). ISBN 978-0-7007-1030-0
- Mahāyāna Buddhism: The Doctrinal Foundations (London: Routledge,1989; Completely revised Second Edition, 2009). ISBN 978-0415356539. Translations of First Edition in Italian, Polish and Korean.