Sixteen categories of the Nyaya school
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Sixteen categories (Skt. ṣoḍaśapadārthāḥ; T. ཚིག་གི་དོན་བཅུ་དྲུག་) of the Nyaya school are sixteen categories of experience that are set forth in the Nyāyasūtra of the non-Buddhist Indian Nyaya school. These categories formed the logical and epistemological framework for many of the debates between Buddhist and Hindu philosophers in India.[1]
In Crushing the Categories (Vaidalyaprakarana), Vasubandhu refutes the Nyaya explanation of these categories.[2][3]
The sixteen categories
The sixteen categories are:[4][2][5]
- pramāṇa (T. tshad ma), epistemic instruments
- prameya (T. gzhal bya), epistemic objects
- saṁśaya (T. ths tshom), doubt
- prayojana (T. dgos pa), motive
- dṛṣṭānta (T. dpe), example
- siddhānta (T. grub pa'i mtha'), established conclusion
- avayava (T. yan lag), constituent of an argument
- tarka (T. rtog ge), hypothetical reasoning
- nirṇaya (T. gtan la phab pa), determination
- vāda (T. rtsod pa), debate
- jalpa (T. brjod pa), devious debate
- vitaṇḍā (T. sun ci phyin du brgal ba), mere refutation
- hetvābhāsa (T. gtan tshigs ltar snang ba), pseudo-reason
- chala (T. tshig dor), equivocation
- jāti (T. ltag cho), irrelevant rejoinder
- nigrahasthāna (T. tshar gcad pa'i gnas rnams), grounds of defeat.
The category of prameya includes all six (or seven) categories of the Vaisheshika school.[6]
Structure of the sixteen categories
Jan Westerhoff states:
- The sixteen categories mentioned in the commentary on [Vaidalyaprakarana stanza 01] are of course the sixteen categories listed in the first verse of the Nyāyasūtra (NS). A question that arises immediately is whether we can make out any underlying structure in this list. On the face of it the list seems to contain a variety of diverse items, belonging to the theory of knowledge (1. epistemic instruments), logic (7. constituents of an argument), and rhetoric (10. debate). It is therefore not immediately clear what the list of the sixteen categories is a list of, and whether it is anything more than the table of contents of the NS.
- However, if we look at the list of categories in a bit more detail, it becomes apparent that there is a noticeable division between an earlier part, consisting of categories (1) epistemic instruments to (9) determination, which deals with concepts necessary in constructing an argument, while the later part, from (10) onward, deals primarily with the notions that become relevant in the debate with an opponent.
- This division can be explained by the fact that we first have to have established a conclusion by some kind of argumentative process before we can begin pitching our conclusion against that of an opponent in the course of the debate. The list of the sixteen categories can therefore be understood as following the temporal structure of the successive steps in a philosophical discussion from its very beginning to the end.[7]
Notes
- ↑ Crushing the Categories, Wisdom Publications
- ↑ 2.0 2.1
ཚིག་གི་དོན་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
- ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Vaidalyaprakaraṇa.
- ↑ Nagarjuna 2018, pp. 36-37.
- ↑ "Padartha, aka: Padārtha; 7 Definition(s)". Wisdom library. 21 July 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ↑ Sharma, C. (1997). A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-0365-5, p.192
- ↑ Nagarjuna 2018, pp. 40-41.
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University- Nagarjuna (2018), Crushing the Categories (Vaidalyaprakarana), translated by Westerhoff, Jan, Wisdom Publications
Further reading
- Hiriyanna, M. (1993, reprint 2000). Outlines of Indian Philosophy, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 81-208-1099-6, pp.245,245n
- Chattopadhyaya, D. (1986), Indian Philosophy: A Popular Introduction, People's Publishing House, New Delhi, ISBN 81-7007-023-6, p.163