Dignaga on the Interpretation of Signs

Buddhist philosophy in India in the early sixth century C. E. took an important tum away from the traditional methods of explaining and systematizing the teachings in Siitra literature that were attributed to the Buddha. The new direction in which several Indian Buddhist philosophers began to move was that of following reasoning to its natural conclusions, regardless whether the conclusions conflicted with traditional teachings. The central figure in this new movement was DiIinaga, a native of South India who found his way to the centre of Buddhist education at Nalanda, studied the treatises that were learned by the Buddhist intellectuals of his day, and eventually wrote works of his own that formed the core of a distinctly new school of Buddhist thought. Inasmuch as virtually every Indian philosopher after the sixth century had either to reject Dirinaga's methods or build upon the foundations provided by his investigations into logic, epistemology and language, his influence on the evolution of Indian philosophy was considerable, and indeed some familiarity with Dirinaga's arguments and conclusions is indispensable for anyone who wishes to understand the historical development of Indian thought. Moreover, since the approach to Buddhism that grew out of Dirinaga's meditations on language and the limits of knowledge dominated the minds of many of the scholars who took Buddhism to Tibet, some familiarity with Dirinaga is also essential to those who wish to understand the intellectual infrastructure of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and practice.

List of contents

1: Preliminaries.- 1.1 The central issues.- 1.2 The contributions of previous scholars.- 1.3 The argument of this book.- Notes.- 2: Rational Skepticism in Pre-Di?n?gan Buddhism.- 2.1 The foundation of skepticism in the Nik?yas.- 2.2 The influence of N?g?rjuna.- Notes.- 3: Nominalism in Pre-Di?n?gan Buddhism.- 3.1 The ?gama literature and Milindapañha.- 3.2 Nominalism in N?g?rjuna.- 3.3 Nominalism in Vasubandhu.- Notes.- 4: Di?n?ga's Theory of Knowledge.- 4.1 Hetucakranir?aya.- 4.2 The Pram??asamuccaya.- 4.3 The skepticism implicit in Di?n?ga's epistemology.- Notes.- 5: Di?n?ga's nominalism.- 5.1 The ?lambanapar?k??.- 5.2 The context of the discussion of nominalism in the Pram??asamuccaya.- Notes.- Translations Introduction to translation.- The history of the Pram??asamuccaya in Tibet.- 6: Pram??asamuccaya II "On reasoning".- 6.1 Inference differentiated from sensation.- 6.2 The three characteristics of legitimate evidence.- 6.3 Property-bearer as the subject of inference.- 6.4 On restricted and errant properties.- 6.5 Non-symmetry of restriction and pervasion.- Notes.- 7: Pram??asamuccaya V: On the nature of signs in language.- 7.1 On the question of what verbal symbols make known.- 7.2 On the relationships between symbols that express preclusion.- 7.3 On the unreality of universals outside thought.- 7.4 On the question of what linguistic symbols preclude.- Notes.- 8: Conclusions.- Appendix A: Glossary of Sanskrit Terms.- Appendix B: Tibetan-Sanskrit Lexicon.- Selected Bibliography.- Subject and Author Index.

Summary

Buddhist philosophy in India in the early sixth century C. E. took an important tum away from the traditional methods of explaining and systematizing the teachings in Siitra literature that were attributed to the Buddha. The new direction in which several Indian Buddhist philosophers began to move was that of following reasoning to its natural conclusions, regardless whether the conclusions conflicted with traditional teachings. The central figure in this new movement was DiIinaga, a native of South India who found his way to the centre of Buddhist education at Nalanda, studied the treatises that were learned by the Buddhist intellectuals of his day, and eventually wrote works of his own that formed the core of a distinctly new school of Buddhist thought. Inasmuch as virtually every Indian philosopher after the sixth century had either to reject Dirinaga's methods or build upon the foundations provided by his investigations into logic, epistemology and language, his influence on the evolution of Indian philosophy was considerable, and indeed some familiarity with Dirinaga's arguments and conclusions is indispensable for anyone who wishes to understand the historical development of Indian thought. Moreover, since the approach to Buddhism that grew out of Dirinaga's meditations on language and the limits of knowledge dominated the minds of many of the scholars who took Buddhism to Tibet, some familiarity with Dirinaga is also essential to those who wish to understand the intellectual infrastructure of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and practice.

Product details

• Authors: R P Hayes, R. P. Hayes, R.P. Hayes, Richard P. Hayes
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 16.10.2013
• EAN: 9789401078061
• ISBN: 978-94-0-107806-1
• No. of pages: 365
• Dimensions: 160 mm x 240 mm x 13 mm
• Illustrations: XV, 365 p.
• Series: Studies of Classical India; Studies of Classical India
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Philosophy > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Philosophy: general, reference works