“This excellent book will be a necessary guide for anyone who enters the labyrinth of complex discussions around omniscience in Tattvasa?graha/Tattvasa?grahapañjika—the great works of the most influential Buddhist thinkers of the eighth century.”

– —Shinya Moriyama, Shinshu University

“Modern scholars have interpreted arguments given by classical Indian logicians in terms of either the Aristotelian syllogism or modern mathematical logic, neither of which has proved satisfying. Sara McClintock’s choice to present Indian Buddhist arguments from the perspective of the New Rhetoric provides a more illuminating and faithful representation. Her accurate and smooth English renderings of the difficult passages of Buddhist logicians will draw the admiration of students of Indian logic, and her treatment of the theme of omniscience will reward all students of Indian religions.”

– —Shoryu Katsura, Ryukoku University, Kyoto

“This study is an excellent example of critical philology combined with a stunning capacity for answering in clear and philosophically informed ways the question of ‘What does it all mean?’ Sara McClintock breaks new ground in the much-discussed relationship between rationality and religion.”

– —Ernst Steinkellner, University of Vienna

“This excellent book will be a necessary guide for anyone who enters into the labyrinth of complex discussions around omniscience in Tattvasangraha and Tattvasangrahapanjika—the great works of the most influential Buddhist thinkers of the eighth century.”

– Journal of Buddhist Philosophy

"Sara L. McClintock's Omniscience and the Rhetoric of Reason is a philosophical discussion of a curious Buddhist question: Does a buddha know everything at all times, have the ability to know anything they wish, or simply know all that is necessary for liberation? McClintock's masterful exploration is built around two important eighth-century Indian Buddhist philosophical works: Shantarakshita's Tattvasamgraha, and Kamalashila's commentary on it. She nimbly draws out the twists and turns of their argumentation and their shifting definition of omniscience, and formulates a compelling theory of reason as rhetoric. Even logic, she argues, is designed to persuade, and thus every argument has to be understood in relation to its intended audience. The study is an elegant exposition of what happens when a tradition that prides itself on rational argument inherits a wildly irrational doctrinal position and uses it to defend and advance the tradition."

– Buddhadharma