Two Paradigmatic Strands in the Buddhist Theory of Consciousness

Abstract

While sartre makes "consciousness" responsible for all decisions and considers the belief in determinism as an act of bad faith, freud accepts the existence of the unconscious and the strength of dispositions. buddhism offers a way of combining these two paradigmatic strands. the buddha accepts the reality of decisions as well as the strength of dispositions. buddhism offers an interesting base to examine some of the contemporary controversies in western psychological theories.