Dignaga
Encyclopedia
Dignāga (c 480-540 CE) was an India
n scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic
.
He was born into a Brahmin
family in Simhavakta near Kanchi Kanchipuram
), and very little is known of his early years, except that he took as his spiritual preceptor Nagadatta of the Vatsiputriya school, before being expelled and becoming a student of Vasubandhu
. This branch of Buddhist thought defended the view that there exists a kind of real personality independent of the elements or aggregates composing it.
Among Dignaga's works there is Hetucakra
(The wheel of reason), considered his first work on formal logic, advancing a new form of deductive reasoning
. It may be regarded as a bridge between the older doctrine of trairūpya
and Dignaga's own later theory of vyāpti which is a concept related to the Western notion of implication
.
Other works include The Treatise on the Objects of Cognition (Ālambana-parīkṣā), The Treatise on Systems of Cognition (Pramāṇa-samuccaya), and The Treatise on the Correct Principles of Logic (*Nyāya-mukha), produced in an effort to establish what were the valid sources of knowledge
.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic
Indian logic
The development of Indian logic dates back to the anviksiki of Medhatithi Gautama the Sanskrit grammar rules of Pāṇini ; the Vaisheshika school's analysis of atomism ; the analysis of inference by Gotama , founder of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy; and the tetralemma of Nagarjuna...
.
He was born into a Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
family in Simhavakta near Kanchi Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram, or Kanchi, is a temple city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a temple town and the headquarters of Kanchipuram district...
), and very little is known of his early years, except that he took as his spiritual preceptor Nagadatta of the Vatsiputriya school, before being expelled and becoming a student of Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu
Vasubandhu was an Indian Buddhist monk, and along with his half-brother Asanga, one of the main founders of the Indian Yogācāra school. However, some scholars consider Vasubandhu to be two distinct people. Vasubandhu is one of the most influential figures in the entire history of Buddhism...
. This branch of Buddhist thought defended the view that there exists a kind of real personality independent of the elements or aggregates composing it.
Among Dignaga's works there is Hetucakra
Hetucakra
Hetucakra is a Sanskrit text on logic written by Dignaga . It concerns the application of his 'three modes’ in a valid inference within the Indian logico-epistemic tradition, sometimes referred to as Buddhist logic....
(The wheel of reason), considered his first work on formal logic, advancing a new form of deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning
Deductive reasoning, also called deductive logic, is reasoning which constructs or evaluates deductive arguments. Deductive arguments are attempts to show that a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of premises or hypothesis...
. It may be regarded as a bridge between the older doctrine of trairūpya
Trairūpya
Trairūpya is a conceptual tool of Buddhist logic. The Trairūpya, ‘three conditions’, is oft accredited to Dignaga though is now understood to have originated with his teacher Vasubandhu Trairūpya (Sanskrit; English: "the triple-character of inferential sign") is a conceptual tool of Buddhist...
and Dignaga's own later theory of vyāpti which is a concept related to the Western notion of implication
Implication
Implication may refer to:In logic:* Logical implication, entailment, or consequence, a relation between statements* Material implication, or conditional implication, a binary truth functionIn linguistics, specifically in pragmatics:...
.
Other works include The Treatise on the Objects of Cognition (Ālambana-parīkṣā), The Treatise on Systems of Cognition (Pramāṇa-samuccaya), and The Treatise on the Correct Principles of Logic (*Nyāya-mukha), produced in an effort to establish what were the valid sources of knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
.
See also
- Buddhist logicBuddhist logicBuddhist Logic, the categorical nomenclature modern Western discourse has extended to Buddhadharma traditions of 'Hetuvidya' and 'Pramanavada' , which arose circa 500CE, is a particular development, application and lineage of continuity of 'Indian Logic', from which it seceded...
- Critical BuddhismCritical BuddhismCritical Buddhism is a trend in Japanese Buddhist scholarship, associated primarily with the works of Hakamaya Noriaki and Matsumoto Shirō. According to Lin Chen-kuo, Hakamaya's view is that "Critical Buddhism sees methodical, rational critique as belonging to the very foundations of Buddhism...
- DharmakirtiDharmakirtiDharmakīrti , was an Indian scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian philosophical logic. He was one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism, according to which the only items considered to exist are momentary states of consciousness.-History:Born around the turn of the 7th century,...
- Epistemology
- Vinītadeva