darśana
Hindu philosophy encompasses the philosophies, world views and teachings of Hinduism that emerged in Ancient India which include six systems ('' shad-darśana'') – Samkhya, Yoga, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Mimamsa and Vedanta.Andrew Nicholson ( ...
'' (view, system, or school) of
Indian logic
The development of Indian logic dates back to the ''anviksiki'' of Medhatithi Gautama (c. 6th century BCE); the Sanskrit grammar rules of Pāṇini (c. 5th century BCE); the Vaisheshika school's analysis of atomism (c. 6th century BCE to 2nd centu ...
and
Indian philosophy
Indian philosophy refers to philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. A traditional Hindu classification divides āstika and nāstika schools of philosophy, depending on one of three alternate criteria: whether it believes the Veda ...
Mithila Mithila may refer to:
Places
* Mithilā, a synonym for the ancient Videha state
** Mithilā (ancient city), the ancient capital city of Videha
* Mithila (region), a cultural region (historical and contemporary), now divided between India and Nepal
...
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
. It was a development of the classical
Nyāya
(Sanskrit: न्याय, ''nyā-yá''), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment",Vācaspati Miśra
Vachaspati (' "lord of Vāc (speech)") is a Rigvedic deity presiding over human life. The name is applied especially to Brhaspati, the lord of eloquence, but also to Soma, Vishvakarman and Prajapati
Prajapati ( sa, प्रजापत ...
(900–980 CE) and Udayana (late 10th century). It remained active in India through to the 18th century.
Gangeśa's book ''
Tattvacintāmaṇi
Tattvachintamani is a treatise in Sanskrit authored by 14th-century CE Indian logician and philosopher Gangesa (fl. c. 1325). The title may be translated into English as "A Thought-jewel of Truth." The treatise is also known as Pramāṇa-chintām ...
'' ("Thought-Jewel of Reality") was written partly in response to Śrīharśa's ''Khandanakhandakhādya'', a defence of Advaita Vedānta, which had offered a set of thorough criticisms of Nyāya theories of thought and language. In his book, Gangeśa both addressed some of those criticisms and – more important – critically examined the Nyāya ''darśana'' itself. He held that, while Śrīharśa had failed to successfully challenge the Nyāya realist
ontology
In metaphysics, ontology is the philosophy, philosophical study of being, as well as related concepts such as existence, Becoming (philosophy), becoming, and reality.
Ontology addresses questions like how entities are grouped into Category ...
, his and Gangeśa's own criticisms brought out a need to improve and refine the logical and linguistic tools of Nyāya thought, to make them more rigorous and precise.
''Tattvacintāmani'' dealt with all the important aspects of Indian philosophy,
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the science of deductively valid inferences or of logical truths. It is a formal science investigating how conclusions follow from prem ...
,
set theory
Set theory is the branch of mathematical logic that studies sets, which can be informally described as collections of objects. Although objects of any kind can be collected into a set, set theory, as a branch of mathematics, is mostly concern ...
, and especially
epistemology
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Epi ...
, which Gangeśa examined rigorously, developing and improving the Nyāya scheme, and offering examples. The results, especially his analysis of
cognition
Cognition refers to "the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, though ...
, were taken up and used by other ''darśanas''.
Navya-Nyāya developed a sophisticated language and conceptual scheme that allowed it to raise, analyse, and solve problems in logic and epistemology. It systematised all the Nyāya concepts into four main categories which are (sense-) perception (''pratyakşa''), inference (''anumāna''), comparison or similarity (''upamāna''), and testimony (sound or word; '' śabda''). Great stalwarts like Basudev Sarvabhauma, Raghunath Shiromani, Jagadish Tarkalankar, Gadadhar Bhattacharya and Mathuranatha Tarkavagisha have contributed further in the development of the subject. Prof John Vattanky has contributed significantly to the modern understanding of Navya-Nyāya.
Nyaya
(Sanskrit: न्याय, ''nyā-yá''), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment",John Vattanky
Sources and further reading
*
Bimal Krishna Matilal
Bimal Krishna Matilal (1 June 1935 – 8 June 1991) was an eminent British-Indian philosopher whose writings presented the Indian philosophical tradition as a comprehensive system of logic incorporating most issues addressed by themes in Weste ...
, ''The Navya-Nyaya Doctrine of Negation: The Semantics and Ontology of Negative Statements in Navya-Nyaya Philosophy'' (Harvard University Press, 1968)
* J. N. Mohanty, ''Classical Indian Philosophy'' (Rowman & Littlefield, 2000)
*
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (; 5 September 1888 – 17 April 1975), natively Radhakrishnayya, was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He served as the 2nd President of India from 1962 to 1967. He also 1st Vice President of India from 1952 ...
, ''et al.'' dd ''History of Philosophy Eastern and Western: Volume One'' (George Allen & Unwin, 1952)
*Vattanky, John, Nyāyapañcānana B. Viśvanātha, Nyāyapañcānana B. Viśvanātha, and Dinakarabhaṭṭa. ''Nyāya Philosophy of Language: Analysis, Text, Translation and Interpretation of Upamāna and Śabda Sections of Kārikāvalī, Muktāvalī and Dinakarī''. (Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications, 1995)
*Vattanky, John. ''A System of Indian Logic: The Nyana Theory of Inference''. (London : Routledge, 2015)
*Vattanky, John. ''Development of Nyāya theism''. (New Delhi: Intercultural Publications, 1993)
*BHATTACHARYYA, SIBAJIBAN. ''“GADĀDHARA BHAṬṬĀCĀRYA’S ‘VIṢAYATĀVĀDA.’”'' Journal of Indian Philosophy 14, no. 2 (1986): 109–93.
*BHATTACHARYYA, SIBAJIBAN. “GADĀDHARA BHAṬṬĀCĀRYA’S ‘VIṢAYATĀVĀDA’ (Continued).” Journal of Indian Philosophy 14, no. 3 (1986): 217–302.
*Bhattacharyya, Sibajiban. ''Some Features of Navya-Nyāya Logic.'' Philosophy East and West 24, no. 3 (1974): 329–42.
*Bhattacharyya, Sibajiban. ''Some Features of the Technical Language of Navya-Nyāya.'' Philosophy East and West 40, no. 2 (1990): 129–49.