Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies (Vol. 9)

by Karl H. Potter

This, the third Volume in this Encyclopedia to deal with Buddhist philosophy, takes the reader for the middle of the fourth century A.d. to the end of the sixth.  Many of the authors and texts treated here are not well known to the casual student of Buddhism.  The most important author is clearly Dignaga, who is almost enntirely responsible for turning Indian Buddhism toward an exhaustive analysis of epistemic considerations and in particular of inferential reasoning.  But other authors whose works are summarized here deserve to be better known, in particular the rival Yogacara commentators buddhapalita and Bhavya, the latter of whom in particular introduces for the first time into Buddhism contrasts between the viewpoint of his particular brand of Buddhism and all the other systems of contemporary India, and not just the Buddhists.

About the Author:

Karl H. Potter is professor of Philosophy and south Asian Studies at the University of Washington in Seattle and is General Editor of the Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies.