Nietzsche's Reception of Indian Buddhism

Abstract

<p>This paper traces Nietzsche's reception of Indian Buddhism through all his known sources on Buddhism as well as through references and allusions to Buddhism in his writings. The sources reveal that Nietzsche was exposed to scholarly work on Buddhism that is quite at odds with his central interpretation of Buddhism as nihilistic, which he seems to have derived from Schopenhauer's assimilation of Buddhism to pessimism and Schopenhauer's mistaken conflation of Buddhism and Brahmanism. Yet, despite his subsequent wholesale repudiation of Schopenhauer and his failure to offer critiques of the contemporary scholarly work on Buddhism, Nietzsche retains his view of Buddhism as nihilistic. This paper explains Nietzsche's adherence to the mistake in terms of his enduring association of Buddhism with Schopenhauer, his creative misprision of Buddhism to fit his own ideas, and his appropriation of key ideas from English anthropology for use as a framework for interpreting religion in general. This framework enabled Nietzsche to pursue an anti-religious agenda, which in turn gave him a distorted view of Buddhism. Nevertheless, Nietzsche's otherwise sympathetic reception of Buddhism demonstrates close affinities with his own philosophy. This affinity coupled with his charge of nihilism makes Nietzsche's reception of Buddhism distinctly ambivalent.</p>