Short bio

Hiroko Matsuoka received her MA in Indology and Buddhist Studies from Hiroshima University in 2005. In 2019 she received her PhD in Philosophy from Leipzig University. She specializes in Indology and Buddhist Studies, with a special focus on the Indian Buddhist epistemological tradition from the 8th century to 11th century. Her PhD thesis is a study, critical edition and annotated translation of Kamalaśīla's (8th century) Tattvasaṅgrahapañjikā on the initial statement (ādivākya) of Śāntarakṣita's (8th century) Tattvasaṅgraha. The study addresses a particular topic at the point of intersection between classical Indian philosophy and literary theory, focusing in particular on the controversies concerning the prerequisites of an introduction to a scientific treatise, or, to use the emic term, the prerequisites of the “initial statement” (ādivākya).  

Since 2018 Matsuoka has been involved in the DFG-funded project “Yamāri’s Pramāṇavārttikālaṅkāraṭīkā Supariśuddhā, Diplomatic and Critical Editions, Translation in part and Studies”, which is based at Leipzig University. She joined the Institute for the Cultural and Intellectual History of Asia in March 2021 doing research on Kamalaśīla's Vajracchedikaṭīkā within the framework of the FWF-funded project “Rationality, meditation and liberation In Indian Buddhism: Kamalaśīla's scriptural commentaries in context.”

Selected papers