Synopsis: : Indian Logic and Atomism An Exposition of the Nyaya and Vaicesika Systems |
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A.B. Keith's Indian Logic and Atomism sets out the fundamental doctrines of the othodox Indian systems of logic and atomism - Nyaya and Vaicesika - on the basis of their History and relation to Buddhist philosophy. Due to their obscurity, the systems had not attracted the notice they deserved. This work removes the seriously felt lacuna.
This Book is divided, for convenience, in two parts. The first part traces the evolution of the systems while simultaneously reconciling the enigmatical interpretations of the various schools of sectarian thought. The second elaborates on the theory of methods or grounds of Knowledge (epistemology) and the Philosophy of Being and knowing (meta-physics).
The lucidity of presentation, without the least deviation from profundity, makes this an invaluable and indispensable work for the neophyte and the savant alike.
Arthur Berriedale Keith (1879-1944), an eminent authority on Sanskrit language and literature, was born at Portobello, Edinburgh on 5 April 1879. After a brilliant academic career at Edinburgh and Balliol College, Oxford, where he studied classics, Sanskrit and Pali, he entered the British Civil Service in 1901. In 1904, he was called to the bar at Inner Temple. Though better known for his deep study of Sanskrit language and literature, Keith also had a deep understanding of law. In 1914, he joined the University of Edinburgh as a Regius Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative Philology and from 1922 he concurrently held the lectureship in the Constitution of the British Empire. Apart from being a member of the Committee on Home Administration of Indian Affairs (1919), he was also a member of a number of important Commissions. He died in Edinburgh on 6 October 1944.
Arthur Berriedale Keith's contributions on Sanskrit language and literature are diverse and are marked by a deep understanding of the obstruse subjects as is evident from his books and many articles in learned journals and translations of ancient Sanskrit texts. His History of Sanskrit Literature, Sanskrit Drama, Classical Sanskrit Literature, Religion and Philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, Samkhya System: A History of the Samkhya Philosophy, Responsible Government in the Dominions apart from the translations of the Karma-Mimamsa, Aitareya Aranyaka, Sankhayana Aranyaka and Mythology of All Raees: Indian and Iranian (jointly with Albert J. Carony) and Vedic Index of Names and Subjects (jointly with A.A. Macdonell) bear testimony to his deep scholarship.
PART I : THE literature OF THE NYAYA AND VAICESIKA
I. THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE SYSTEMS :
1. The Antecedents of Logic and the Atomic Theory
2. The Nyaya and Vaicesika Sutras
3. Pracastapada, Vatsyayana, and Uddyotakara
II. THE SYNCRETISM OF THE SCHOOLS :
1. Vacaspati Micra, Bhasarvajna, Udayana, and Cridhara
2. Gangeca and the Nuddea School
3. The Syncretist School
PART II : THE SYSTEM OF THE NYAYA-VACESIKA - A. EPISTEMOLOGY
I. KNOWLEDGE AND ERROR :
1. The Nature and Forms of Knowledge
2. The Forms of Knowledge and Proof
3. The Nature and Forms of Error
II. Perception :
1. Normal Perception
2. The Forms of Perception and their Objects
3. Transcendental Perception
III. INFERENCE AND COMPARISON :
1. The Development of the Doctrine of Inference and Syllogism
2. Pracastapada and Dignaga
3. The Final Form of the Doctrine of Inference
4. The Final Form of the Doctrine of Syllogism
5. Analogy or Comparison
IV. LOGICAL ERRORS
1. The Origin and Development of the Doctrine of Fallacies
2. Dignaga and Pracastapada
3. The Final Form of the Doctrine of Fallacies
4. Other Logical Errors
V. THE NATURE AND AUTHORITY OF SPEECH :
1. The Nature of Speech
2. The Authority of Speech
VI. THE DIALECTICAL CATEGORIES
B. METAPHYSICS
VII. Ontology :
1. The Categories of Kanada and Gautama
2. Substance, Quality, and Activity
3. Generality, Particularity, and Inherence
4. Cause and Effect
5. Non-existence or Negation
VIII. THE PHILOSOPHY OF NATURE :
1. The Atomic Theory
2. The Atoms, their Qualities, Motion, and Products
3. Ether and Sound
4. Time and Space
IX. THE PHILOSOPHY OF SPIRIT :
1. Soul, Mind, and Body
2. The Purpose and Destiny of the Individual
THE EXISTENCE AND NATURE OF GOD :
1. The Theism of the System
2. The Proof of the Existence of God