This book explains the Buddhist doctrine of annattá ("not-self"), which
denies the existence of any self, soul, or enduring essence in man. The
author relates this doctrine to its cultural and historical context,
particularly to its Brahman background. He shows how the Theravada
Buddhist tradition has constructed a philosophical and psychological
account of personal identity on the apparently impossible basis of the
denial of self. Although the emphasis of the book is firmly
philosophical, Dr. Collins makes use of a number of academic
disciplines, particularly those of anthropology, linguistics, sociology,
and comparative religion, in an attempt to discover the "deep structure"
of Buddhist culture and imagination, and to make these doctrines
comprehensible in terms of the western history of ideas.