Indian Epistemology and Metaphysics

Description

Indian Epistemology and Metaphysics introduces the reader to new perspectives on Indian philosophy based on philological research within the last twenty years. Concentrating on topics such as perception, inference, skepticism, consciousness, self, mind, and universals, some of the most notable scholars working in classical Indian philosophy today examine core epistemological and metaphysical issues. Philosophical theories and arguments from a comprehensive range of Indian philosophical traditions (including the Nyaya, Mimamsa, Saiva, Vedanta, Samkhya, Jain, Buddhist, materialist and skeptical traditions, as well as some 20th century thought) are covered. The contributors to this volume approach the topics from both a philosophical and a philological perspective. They demonstrate the importance of the subject matter for an understanding of Indian thought in general and they highlight its wider philosophical significance. By developing an appreciation of classical Indian philosophy in its own terms, set against the background of its unique assumptions and historical and cultural development, Indian Epistemology and Metaphysics is an invaluable guide to the current state of scholarship on Indian philosophy. It is a timely and much-needed reference resource, the first of its kind. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents Contributors Introduction: Indian Epistemology and Metaphysics Part I: Knowledge, Language, and Logic 1. Epistemology, Metaphysics, and Logic in Prācīna Nyāya and Buddhist Philosophy 2. Fallacies and Defeaters in Early Navya Nyāya 3. Jayarāśi and the Skeptical Tradition 4. Jainism: Disambiguate the Ambiguous Part II: Consciousness and the External World 5. Proofs of Idealism in Buddhist Epistemology: Dharmakīrti’s Refutation of External Objects 6. Materialism in Indian Philosophy: The Doctrine and Arguments 7. Sāṁkhya: Dualism without Substances 8. Śaiva Nondualism 9. An Indian Debate on Optical Reflections and Its Metaphysical Implications: Śaiva Nondualism and the Mirror of Consciousness Part III: Universals and Momentary Existence 10. A Road Not Taken in Indian Epistemology: Kumārila’s Defense of the Perceptibility of Universals 11. The Role of Causality in Ratnakīrti’s Argument for Momentariness Part IV: Self, No-Self, and Self-Knowledge 12. Self or No-Self? The Ātman Debate in Classical Indian Philosophy 13. Where the Self and Other Meet: Early Indian Yogācāra Buddhist Approaches to Intersubjectivity 14. Luminous Mind: Self-Luminosity versus Other-Luminosity in Indian Philosophy of Mind 15. Solving Kant’s Problem: K. C. Bhattacharyya on Self-Knowledge Part V: Concepts and Cognitions 16. Nyāya Theory of Concepts 17. Vasubandhu’s Arguments for the Cognition of Nonexistent Objects Glossary of Frequently Used Sanskrit Terms Chronological Table of Main Indian Thinkers and Texts Mentioned in This Volume Index