{"id":329,"date":"2025-12-13T15:05:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T15:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/?post_type=faculty&#038;p=329"},"modified":"2026-08-04T12:48:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T12:48:35","slug":"mario-damato","status":"publish","type":"faculty","link":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/faculty\/mario-damato\/","title":{"rendered":"Mario D&#8217;Amato, PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>\n.gcas-bio {\n  max-width: 780px;\n  margin: 0 auto;\n  padding: 3rem 1.25rem 4rem;\n  font-family: inherit;\n  color: #1a1a1a;\n  line-height: 1.75;\n}\n.gcas-bio__name {\n  font-size: clamp(2rem, 4vw, 2.75rem);\n  line-height: 1.15;\n  margin: 0 0 .5rem;\n  font-weight: 600;\n  letter-spacing: -0.01em;\n}\n.gcas-bio__title {\n  font-size: 1rem;\n  letter-spacing: .06em;\n  text-transform: uppercase;\n  color: #5a6270;\n  margin: 0 0 .35rem;\n  font-weight: 500;\n}\n.gcas-bio__programs {\n  font-size: .95rem;\n  color: #7a828e;\n  margin: 0;\n}\n.gcas-bio__rule {\n  border: 0;\n  border-top: 1px solid #d9dde3;\n  margin: 2rem 0 2.25rem;\n}\n.gcas-bio p {\n  font-size: 1.075rem;\n  margin: 0 0 1.4rem;\n}\n.gcas-bio__lead {\n  font-size: 1.2rem;\n  color: #2b3038;\n}\n.gcas-bio__figure {\n  margin: 2.75rem 0;\n  text-align: center;\n}\n.gcas-bio__figure img {\n  width: 100%;\n  height: auto;\n  display: block;\n  border-radius: 6px;\n}\n.gcas-bio__figure figcaption {\n  font-size: .875rem;\n  color: #6b7280;\n  font-style: italic;\n  margin-top: .75rem;\n  line-height: 1.5;\n}\n@media (max-width: 600px) {\n  .gcas-bio { padding: 2rem 1rem 3rem; }\n  .gcas-bio p { font-size: 1rem; }\n}\n<\/style>\n\n<article class=\"gcas-bio\">\n\n  <header>\n    <h1 class=\"gcas-bio__name\">Mario D\u2019Amato, PhD<\/h1>\n    <!-- To add the office above the rank, uncomment the next line:\n    <p class=\"gcas-bio__title\">Vice-Chancellor<\/p>\n    -->\n    <p class=\"gcas-bio__title\">Professor of Religious Studies and Eastern Philosophy<\/p>\n    <p class=\"gcas-bio__programs\">Buddhist Philosophy \u00b7 Semiotics \u00b7 Psychoanalysis and Religion<\/p>\n  <\/header>\n\n  <hr class=\"gcas-bio__rule\">\n\n  <p class=\"gcas-bio__lead\">Mario D\u2019Amato is a scholar of Buddhist philosophy whose work centres on the translation and interpretation of Sanskrit doctrinal texts from the Yog\u0101c\u0101ra school \u2014 the tradition that developed a distinctively Buddhist conception of the unconscious. His research reads that tradition alongside Hegel, semiotics, and above all psychoanalysis, treating Buddhist thought not as an object of area study but as a live philosophical interlocutor for contemporary Continental theory.<\/p>\n\n  <!-- Optional photo. Swap the src and caption, or delete this whole block.\n  <figure class=\"gcas-bio__figure\">\n    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/YOUR-IMAGE.jpg\"\n         alt=\"Mario D&rsquo;Amato\"\n         loading=\"lazy\">\n    <figcaption>Your caption here.<\/figcaption>\n  <\/figure>\n  -->\n\n  <p>He completed his PhD at the University of Chicago in 2000, working in the philosophy of religion. His courses range across Buddhist philosophy and ethics, Sanskrit, semiotics, psychoanalytic theories of religion, and the philosophy of religion.<\/p>\n\n  <p>He is the author of a study and annotated translation of the fourth-century treatise <em>Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes (Madhy\u0101ntavibh\u0101ga)<\/em>, together with Vasubandhu\u2019s commentary (Columbia \/ American Institute of Buddhist Studies, 2012), and co-editor of <em>Pointing at the Moon: Buddhism, Logic, Analytic Philosophy<\/em> (Oxford, 2009). His articles on Buddhist thought have appeared in the <em>Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies<\/em>, the <em>Journal of Indian Philosophy<\/em>, <em>Semiotica<\/em>, and the <em>Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory<\/em>, among others.<\/p>\n\n<\/article>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mario D\u2019Amato, PhD Professor of Religious Studies and Eastern Philosophy Buddhist Philosophy \u00b7 Semiotics \u00b7 Psychoanalysis and Religion Mario D\u2019Amato is a scholar of Buddhist philosophy whose work centres on the translation and interpretation of Sanskrit doctrinal texts from the Yog\u0101c\u0101ra school \u2014 the tradition that developed a distinctively Buddhist conception of the unconscious. His [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":4532,"template":"","department":[],"faculty_type":[26,36,37],"class_list":["post-329","faculty","type-faculty","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","faculty_type-core-faculty","faculty_type-ma-philosophy-program","faculty_type-ma-psychoanalysis-program"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.2 (Yoast SEO v28.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Mario D&#039;Amato, PhD - The Global Centre for Advanced Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/faculty\/mario-damato\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mario D&#039;Amato, PhD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mario D\u2019Amato, PhD Professor of Religious Studies and Eastern Philosophy Buddhist Philosophy \u00b7 Semiotics \u00b7 Psychoanalysis and Religion Mario D\u2019Amato is a scholar of Buddhist philosophy whose work centres on the translation and interpretation of Sanskrit doctrinal texts from the Yog\u0101c\u0101ra school \u2014 the tradition that developed a distinctively Buddhist conception of the unconscious. His [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/faculty\/mario-damato\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Global Centre for Advanced Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/globalcenterforadvancedstudies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-04T12:48:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mario-Faculty.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/faculty\\\/mario-damato\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/faculty\\\/mario-damato\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mario D'Amato, PhD - The Global Centre for Advanced Studies\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/faculty\\\/mario-damato\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/faculty\\\/mario-damato\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/gcas.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Mario-Faculty.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-13T15:05:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-04T12:48:35+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/faculty\\\/mario-damato\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"ga\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/faculty\\\/mario-damato\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ga\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/faculty\\\/mario-damato\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/gcas.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Mario-Faculty.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/gcas.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/Mario-Faculty.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":1000},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/faculty\\\/mario-damato\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/ar\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Faculty\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/faculty\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Mario D&#8217;Amato, PhD\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Global Centre for Advanced Studies\",\"description\":\"The World\u2019s First, Global Debt-Free, Co-Owned College offering accredited degrees.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/#organization\"},\"alternateName\":\"GCAS College\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"ga\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"The Global Centre for Advanced Studies\",\"alternateName\":\"GCAS\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"ga\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/gcas.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/Untitled-design-2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/gcas.ie\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/Untitled-design-2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"The Global Centre for Advanced Studies\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gcas.ie\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/globalcenterforadvancedstudies\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/gcas.ie\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/school\\\/the-global-center-for-advanced-studies\\\/?viewAsMember=true\"],\"description\":\"GCAS College Dublin is the world's first debt-free, EU-accredited online college, offering cooperatively owned BA, MA, and PhD degrees in philosophy, psychoanalysis, theology, social sciences, law, and natural sciences to students in 80+ countries.\",\"email\":\"contact@gcas.ie\",\"telephone\":\"+353 87 754 1417\",\"legalName\":\"GCAS College Dublin, LTD\",\"foundingDate\":\"2013-08-22\",\"numberOfEmployees\":{\"@type\":\"QuantitativeValue\",\"minValue\":\"11\",\"maxValue\":\"50\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mario D'Amato, PhD - The Global Centre for Advanced Studies","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/faculty\/mario-damato\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mario D'Amato, PhD","og_description":"Mario D\u2019Amato, PhD Professor of Religious Studies and Eastern Philosophy Buddhist Philosophy \u00b7 Semiotics \u00b7 Psychoanalysis and Religion Mario D\u2019Amato is a scholar of Buddhist philosophy whose work centres on the translation and interpretation of Sanskrit doctrinal texts from the Yog\u0101c\u0101ra school \u2014 the tradition that developed a distinctively Buddhist conception of the unconscious. His [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/faculty\/mario-damato\/","og_site_name":"The Global Centre for Advanced Studies","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/globalcenterforadvancedstudies\/","article_modified_time":"2026-08-04T12:48:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":1000,"url":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mario-Faculty.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/faculty\/mario-damato\/","url":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/faculty\/mario-damato\/","name":"Mario D'Amato, PhD - The Global Centre for Advanced Studies","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/faculty\/mario-damato\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/faculty\/mario-damato\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gcas.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mario-Faculty.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1","datePublished":"2025-12-13T15:05:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-04T12:48:35+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/faculty\/mario-damato\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"ga","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/gcas.ie\/faculty\/mario-damato\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ga","@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/faculty\/mario-damato\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gcas.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mario-Faculty.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gcas.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Mario-Faculty.jpg?fit=1000%2C1000&ssl=1","width":1000,"height":1000},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/faculty\/mario-damato\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ar\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Faculty","item":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/faculty\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Mario D&#8217;Amato, PhD"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/#website","url":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/","name":"The Global Centre for Advanced Studies","description":"The World\u2019s First, Global Debt-Free, Co-Owned College offering accredited degrees.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/#organization"},"alternateName":"GCAS College","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"ga"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/#organization","name":"The Global Centre for Advanced Studies","alternateName":"GCAS","url":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"ga","@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gcas.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/gcas.ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Untitled-design-2.png?fit=1080%2C1080&ssl=1","width":1080,"height":1080,"caption":"The Global Centre for Advanced Studies"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/globalcenterforadvancedstudies\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/gcas.ie\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/school\/the-global-center-for-advanced-studies\/?viewAsMember=true"],"description":"GCAS College Dublin is the world's first debt-free, EU-accredited online college, offering cooperatively owned BA, MA, and PhD degrees in philosophy, psychoanalysis, theology, social sciences, law, and natural sciences to students in 80+ countries.","email":"contact@gcas.ie","telephone":"+353 87 754 1417","legalName":"GCAS College Dublin, LTD","foundingDate":"2013-08-22","numberOfEmployees":{"@type":"QuantitativeValue","minValue":"11","maxValue":"50"}}]}},"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty\/329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/faculty"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"department","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/department?post=329"},{"taxonomy":"faculty_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gcas.ie\/ga\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/faculty_type?post=329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}