Essays on Indian Philosophy in Comparative Perspective

Dragonetti, Carmen / Tola, Fernando:
Essays on Indian philosophy in comparative perspective / Carmen Dragonetti ; Fernando Tola. - Hildesheim [u.a.] : Olms, 2009. - XVII, 178 S. - (Philosophische Texte und Studien ; 101)
ISBN 978-3-487-13978-4
EUR 34,80
DDC: 181.4

Beschreibung
Dragonetti and Tola deal with five cases of thematic and methodological coincidences between Indian and Western philosophical thought in order to establish that an Indian philosophy with the same expectations and the same weaknesses as those of Western philosophy exists. Thus it is possible to conclude that there is not a “Western thought characterized by rationality and freedom of mind”, opposed to an “Indian thought characterized by religiosity and irrationality”, but only a “Universal philosophical thought”. The method of presenting the evidence is the same applied in their book On the Myth of the Opposition between Indian Thought and Western Philosophy (Olms, 2004): the parallel presentation in their original languages of Indian and Western philosophical texts. These five essays are especially concerned with the Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika systems of Indian philosophy. [Verlagsinformation]

Inhalt
Preface. xv
I. THE FUNDAMENT OF THE ONTOLOGICAL PROOF AND BHARTṚHARI
Introduction. 1
The ontological proof and the cultural dogmas. 2
The ontological proof in the West. 4
Refutation of the ontological proof Gaunilo, Saint Thomas, Kant. 6
The distinction in intellectu / in re in Bhartṛhari. 13
The ontological proof and its consequences for Indian theism. 16
References. 17
II. INDIAN AND WESTERN THEORIES OF CATEGORIES. SVARŪPAVATTVA / ENTELECHY / EXSISTENTIA
Introduction. 19
1. Aim, nature and criterion of classification of the categories as established by the Indian philosopher Kaṇāda. 20
2. Aim, nature and criterion of classifieation of the categories as established by Aristotle. 24
3. The primacy of language in cognition: Bhartṛhari, Hobbes and Leibniz. 31
4. Kinds of words used in the theory of eategories: the Vaiśeṣikasystem, Bhartṛhari and Aristotle. 34
5. Truth and falsity in categories. 35
6. The notions of astitva in Vaiśeṣika theory of categories, οὐσία/εἶδος/ἐντελέχεια in Aristotle, and exsistentia in Marius Victorinus . 38
Conclusions. 45
References. 47
III. ARISTOTLE AND PRAŚASTAPĀDA ON THE GENESIS OF THE UNIVERSALS
Introduction. 53
Definition of sāmānya / universal. 53
Sāmānya: similarity, commonness. 54
Similarity and commonness in Aristotle and Hobbes. 56
Genesis of the universals according to Praśastapāda. 57
The genesis of the principia prima and universals in Aristotle. 60
Example of Themistius illustrating Aristotle's genesis of the principia prima. 63
Final remarks. 63
References. 68
IV. ON SPONTANEOUS GENERATION: BUDDHISM, PRAŚASTAPĀDA AND ARISTOTLE
Introduction. 71
I. Buddhism
    Buddhist texts on spontaneous generation. 73
    The Majjhima Nikāya and the Dīgha Nikāya Pāli Suttas. 73
    The Abhidharmakośa and the Mahāvastu-avadāna Sanskrit texts. 75
    Remarks on the previous Buddhist texts 76
    Beings born from moisture are born from a cause. 76
    Karman as the remote and principal cause of rebirth. 77
    Despicable characteristics of beings born from moisture. 78
    Arising process, examples and places of birth of beings born from moisture. 78
    The opapātika (Pāli)/ aupapāduka or upapāduka (Sanskrit) beings. 79
    Other conception on the yonis that seem of later origin. 80
    A wrong interpretation opapātika and the other related words. 82
II. Praśastapāda
    The yonis theory in Praśastapāda. 83
    Remarks on Praśastapāda's text. 85
    Atheistic and theistic positions on karman and the union of atoms. 85
    Praśastapāda and Gassendi. 86
III. Aristotle
    Aristotle on spontaneous generation. 86
    Aristotle's classification of modes of generation. 86
    Remarks on Aristotle's modes of generation. 87
    Coincidence between Aristotle fourth group and Buddhist third group. 87
    Examples of beings produced by spontaneous generation. 88
    Places where beings produced by spontaneous generation are found. 88
    Size of beings spontaneously generated. 89
    First explanation of spontaneous generation in Metaphysics 1034b4-7: Two problematic consequences involved in it. 90
    Second explanation of spontaneous generation in De generatione animalium 762a8-12, and 762a18-27. 93
    A marginal note on Aristotle's animistic approach. 96
    Third explanation of spontaneous generation in De generatione animalium 737a3-5. 97
    Fourth explanation of spontaneous generation in Meteorologica 379b6-8. 97
    The problem of the diversity of species in spontaneous generation. 98
IV. Final Remarks
    Deficiencies, prejudices, mixture of intervening factors and motives of the research in the explanation of spontaneous generation. 100
    Buddhism. 102
    Praśastapāda. 104
    Aristotle. 105
    References. 110
V. UDAYANA, THE CĀRVĀKAS, AND HUME ON CAUSALITY
    - Introduction 115
    - Five Cārvākas' objections to the existence of God. First reference to the notion of causality. 116
    - Indian notion of cause. 117
    - Buddhist conception of causality in terms of "invariable concomitance of being and not-being". 118
    - Galileo's definition of cause. 118
    - The Cārvāka first argument against the existence of God: The denial of a "supernatural cause" for the "other world". 119
    - Udayana's reasons for rejecting the Cārvāka first argument against the existence of God. 120
    - Udayana's first reason for rejecting the Cārvāka first argument against the existence of God: Occasionality of the world as a proof of the necessity of a cause for the world. 121
    - Reference to Dharmakīrti by Udayana's commentator in support of Udayana's assertion on the tight connection between occasionality and causality. 124
    - Whatever comes to existence has a cause. Hume's reference to this matter. 126
    - The Cārvāka's position in regard to occasionality. 127
    - The Cārvāka's denial of causality. 127
    - Vardhamānopādhyāya's information about the Cārvāka's theory of causation. 128
    - Hume on the impossibility of perceiving (senses) and of demonstrating (reason) a relation of causality. Humes 's denial of the theoretical validity of the idea of cause. 134
    - Remarks concerning ananyathāsiddhi and Aristotle cause per accidens. 138
    - Udayana's refutation of the Cārvāka denial of causality: The five theses implied in this denial. Hume's remarks on hetuniṣedha and svavidhi. 139
    - The fifth thesis: the svabhāvavāda or own nature theory. 144
    - Some testimonies on the own nature theory. 145
    - Characteristics of the own nature theory according to the quoted texts. 148
    - The Materialistic and Atheistic Cārvāka doctrines and some parallel accounts in ancient Greece. 151
    - The refutation of the svabhāva theory by Udayana. 155
    - Antecedence of the cause and contiguity of cause and effect in Udayana. Hume on this matter. 159
    - Necessary existence of the cause. Causality according to Udayana. 160
    - The importance of 'niyama' and 'anupakāraka' in Udayana's and in modern Western theories of causation. 168
    - Udayana's, the Cārvāka's, and Hume's notions of cause/effect relation. 171
    - References. 175

Autoren
Carmen Dragonetti, Dr. phil., Lima (Peru), is research fellow of the CONICET (National Council for Scientific Research, Argentina) and Fernando Tola, Dr. litt., Lima (Peru), was research fellow of the same institution (now retired), both in the highest category. As president and vice-president of the Institute of Buddhist Studies Foundation, Argentina, they carry out their research work. They are authors of numerous publications (English and Spanish) on Indian philosophy.

Quellen: Olms Verlag; Amazon (Deutschland); Buchhandel.de; Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.