Ippolito Desideri and the Universality of Aristotelian Rationality: A Model or a Hindrance?

The purpose of this essay is to explore Ippolito Desideri's apologetic arguments in his Tibetan-language treatise Byun K'uns (The dawn), focusing on his critique of the notion of karma and codependent origination (pratītyasamutpāda). Desideri's theological vision can be seen as an instance of the partial fulfillment paradigm outlined by numerous recent scholars, such as Paul Knitter, for whom non-Christian religious traditions contain elements of truth while falling short of the fullness of the Christian revelation. In the Byun K'uns, Desideri deploys his Aristotelian and speculative formation to question the classical Madhyamaka rejection of a first cause or ground of being, and suggests that the Tibetans' awareness of the transitory character of the natural order finds its ultimate fulfillment in the acceptance of the Thomist arguments for the existence of God. After outlining and contextualizing Desideri's apologetic project, I turn to Jay L. Garfields's reading of Madhyamaka thought and offer a critique of Desideri's project, arguing that his overarching argument is vitiated by the assumption of the universality of specific metaphysical categories that mar what is otherwise a pioneering experiment in constructive comparative theology.