Buddhism and Cognitive Science : Contributions to an Enlarged Discourse Symposium Proceedings

ON FRIDAY, 10 MAY, 2002, the Institute of Buddhist Studies and the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences co-hosted a one-day symposium on the topic of Buddhism and Cognitive Science. The symposium comprised four presentations, given by Richard K. Payne, Institute of Buddhist Studies; B. Alan Wallace, Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Consciousness, Santa Barbara; Eleanor Rosch, University of California, Berkeley; and Steven A. Tainer, Institute for World Religions and the Kira Institute. The papers which follow are revised versions of the presentations given at that symposium. The symposium was organized as part of a class on “Buddhism and Cognitive Science” taught by Payne, and was supported by a curriculum development grant from the Templeton Foundation given under the “Science and Religion Course Program” coordinated by the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. The following introduction to the symposium proceedings seeks to identify some of the reasons why a dialogue between Buddhism, cognitive science, and phenomenology (a topic which emerged out of the symposium) is of value to the future of Buddhism in the West, including identifying some theoretical points of contact between the two.