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Dignāga
Indian logician / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Dignāga (also known as Diṅnāga, c. 480 – c. 540 CE) was an Indian Buddhist philosopher and logician. He is credited as one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic (hetu vidyā) and atomism. Dignāga's work laid the groundwork for the development of deductive logic in India and created the first system of Buddhist logic and epistemology (pramāṇa).[1]
Dignāga | |
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![]() A statue in Dignaga in Kalmykia. | |
Born | 480 Simhavakta, Pallava Kingdom |
Died | 540(540-00-00) (aged 59–60) |
Era | Buddhist philosophy |
Region | Eastern philosophy |
School | School of Dignāga |
Academic advisors | Vasubandhu |
Main interests | |
Notable ideas | |
According to Georges B. Dreyfus, his philosophical school brought about an Indian "epistemological turn" and became the "standard formulation of Buddhist logic and epistemology in India and Tibet."[2] Dignāga's thought influenced later Buddhist philosophers like Dharmakirti and also Hindu thinkers of the Nyaya school. Dignāga's epistemology accepted only "perception" (pratyaksa) and "inference" (anumāṇa) as valid instruments of knowledge and introduced the widely influential theory of "exclusion" (apoha) to explain linguistic meaning.[3] His work on language, inferential reasoning and perception were also widely influential among later Indian philosophers.[4] According to Richard P. Hayes "some familiarity with Dinnaga's arguments and conclusions is indispensable for anyone who wishes to understand the historical development of Indian thought."[5]