Nagarjuna and the Philosophy of Language

The purpose of this paper is to examine some of the key points of Nagarjuna's discussion of problems relating to the philosophy of language. We will focus on two works from Nagarjuna's yukti-corpus that address these matters most explicitly, the Vigrahavyavartani (VV) and the Vaidalyaprakara?a (VP). The discussion will concentrate on four topics: Nagarjuna's views on semantics, the problem of empty names, the relation between language and momentariness, and the implications of Madhyamaka views on parts and wholes for the existence of language.