Knowledge plays a very significant role in Buddhism, as it is the gateway to enlightenment and nirvana. This volume provides a clear and exhaustive exposition of Buddhist epistemology and logic, based on the works of classical thinkers such as Vasubandhu, Dinnaga, and Dharmakirti. It traces the historical development of this theory, identifies the most important schools and thinkers, and defines its main concepts--the criteria of truth, the nature of reality, and the concepts of perception and inference, the only two sources of knowledge accepted in Buddhist philosophy. The appendix contains the Sanskrit original and an annotated translation of Nyaya Pravesha, a key text of Buddhist epistemology, which discusses the nature of perception and inference and their fallacies.


Buddhist Epistemology, S.R. Bhatt. Anu Mehrotra, Motilal Banarsidass, Hardcover, 140 Pages, $20.00

Professor Siddheshwar Rameshwar Bhatt (b. 24 April 1939) is an eminent philosopher, Sanskritist and profound thinker. He is a senior professor and format Head of Department and Co-ordinator of UGC Special Assistance Programme in Philosophy, Delhi University. He has authored several books and research papers. He has lectured in many universities and research institutes of India, Japan, China, North Korea, Turkey, United States, Trinidad and Germany. An internationally known authority on ancient Indian culture, Buddhism and Vedanta, he has been the General President of the Indian Philosophical Congress and All India Philosophy Association. He is a member of the Federation of the International Societies of Philosophy, world Association of Vedic Studies, Society for Comparative and Asian Philosophy, and International Vedanta Congress.

Anu Mehrotra is senior scholar of Philosophy at Delhi University./e Her research interests include Indian Philosophy, logic and epistemology, philosophy of religion, and social and political thought. She has published scholarly articles on Nehru and Buddhist Philosophy.