In presenting his theory of religious pluralism, John Hick discussed the Buddhist concept of śūnyatā, emptiness, which he regarded as functionally equivalent to his postulated noumenal Real. This article introduces Hick's pluralistic hypothesis and reviews the major criticisms of his theory. It then investigates Hick's understanding of śūnyatā, before arguing that a Madhyamaka interpretation of śūnyatā, within the context of the Buddhist theory of ‘two truths’, differs considerably from Hick's understanding. The article suggests that the Madhyamaka interpretation of śūnyatā can be used to reconfigure Hick's pluralistic hypothesis, thereby avoiding the major criticisms Hickian pluralism faces, for it provides a new way of thinking about the relation between ultimate reality and the reality that we experience.

中文翻译：

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约翰·希克多元假设的佛教重构：中观观

在介绍他的宗教多元化理论时，约翰·希克讨论了佛教的概念苏尼亚塔，空虚，他认为在功能上等同于他假定的本体 Real。本文介绍了希克的多元假设并回顾了对其理论的主要批评。然后调查希克对苏尼亚塔，在争论中观对苏尼亚塔，在佛教“二谛”理论的背景下，与希克的理解有很大不同。文章建议中观解释苏尼亚塔可以用来重新配置希克的多元假设，从而避免希克多元主义面临的主要批评，因为它提供了一种思考终极现实与我们所体验的现实之间关系的新方式。