Buddhist Epistemology (Contributions in Philosophy Book 75)

Knowledge plays a very significant role in Buddhism, as it is the gateway to enlightenment and nirvana. This volume provides a clear and exhaustive exposition of Buddhist epistemology and logic, based on the works of classical thinkers such as Vasubandhu, Dinnãga, and Dharmakiriti. It traces the historical development of this theory, identifies the most important schools and thinkers, and defines its main concepts—the criteria of truth, the nature of reality, and the concepts of perception and inference, the only two sources of knowledge accepted in Buddhist philosophy. The appendix contains the Sanskrit original and an annotated translation of Nyaya Prave'sa, a key text of Buddhist epistemology, which discusses the nature of perception and inference and their fallacies. Read more