History of Philosophy: India, Africana, China

HPI 53 - Follow the Evidence - Dignaga's Logic

Dignāga’s trairūpya theory, which sets out the three conditions required for making reliable inferences.

HPI 52 - Under Construction - Dignaga on Perception and Language

The great Buddhist thinker Dignāga argues that general concepts and language are mere constructions superimposed on perception.

HPI 51 - Change of Mind - Vasubandhu and Yogacara Buddhism

Vasubandhu’s path to Yogācāra Buddhism, a form of idealism which holds that nothing can be mind-independent.

HPI 50 - Marie-Hélène Gorisse on Jain Epistemology

We're joined by Marie-Hélène Gorisse for a look at the Jain theory of knowledge.

HPI 49 - Well Qualified - the Jains on Truth

Does the Jain theory of seven predications (saptabhaṇgī) land them in self-contradiction, or help them to avoid it?

HPI 48 - Taking Perspective - the Jain Theory of Standpoints

The Jain theory of standpoints or non-onesidedness (anekāntavāda) makes truth a matter of perspective.

HPI 47 - Jan Westerhoff on Nagarjuna

A discussion with Jan Westerhoff, an expert on the great Buddhist thinker Nāgārjuna.

HPI 46 - No Four Ways About It - Nagarjuna’s Tetralemma

Nāgārjuna’s four-fold argument scheme, the tetralemma (catuṣkoṭi).

HPI 45 - Motion Denied - Nagarjuna on Change

Nāgārjuna applies his emptiness theory to motion, change, and cognition.

HPI 44 - It All Depends - Nagarjuna on Emptiness

Nāgārjuna founds the Madhyāmaka (“middle way”) Buddhist tradition by “relinquishing all views” and arguing that everything is “empty.”