Throughout the history of Buddhism, few philosophers have attained the stature of Dharmakirti, the "Lord of Reason" who has influenced virtually every systematic Buddhist thinker since his time. Dharmakirti's revowned works, written in India during the philosophically rich seventh century, argue that the true test of knowledge is its efficacy, and likewise that only the efficacious is knowable and real. Around this central theme is woven an intricate web of interrelated theories concerning perception, reason, language, and the justification of knowledge. Masterfully unpacking these foundations of Dharmakirti's system, John Dunne presents the first major study of the most vexing issues in Dharmakirti's thought within its Indian philosophical context. Lucid and carefully argued, Dunne's work serves both as an introduction to Dharmakirti for serious students of Buddhism and a groundbreaking resource for scholars of Buddhist thought.


Foundations of Dharmakirti's Philosophy, John D. Dunne, Wisdom Publications, Paperback, 467 pages, 2004, $39.95.

John Dunne, Visiting Assistant Professor Languages and Cultures of Asia, Center for South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Preface xi
List of Abbreviations xv
A Note on the Sanskrit and Tibetan Translations xix
INTRODUCTION 1
A Question of Method: A Point of Departure 3
Some Suggestions for the Reader 12
1 PRAMANA THEORY: DHARMAKIRTI'S CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT 15
1.1 The Process of Knowing and Its Instrument 15
Two Ubiquitous Instruments: Perception and Inference 22
Shared Notions Concerning Perceptual Awareness 23
Shared Notions Concerning Inference 25

The Basic Structure of Inference 26
The Evidence-Predicate Relation and Its Exemplification 28
The Evidence-Subject Relation 33
A Restatement 33
1.2 Prameya: The "Real" 35
The Simplicity of the Real and a Fundamental Difference 37
1.3 Purpose as Context 45
1.4 Points of Divergence: The Action and Agent 49
1.5 Summary 51
2 DHARMAKIRTI'S METHOD AND ONTOLOGY 53
2.1 The Scale of Analysis: Dharmakirti's Method 53
External Realism as a Level of Analysis 65
Divergent Interpretations of External Realism 69
2.2 Dharmakirti's Ontology 79
The Two Prameyas-The Two Realities 79
2.3 More on Particulars 84
The Perceptible as Ultimately Real 84
The Ultimately Real as Inexpressible and Momentary 91
Do Particulars Have Spatial Extension? 98
2.4 Universals 113
Summary of Dharmak?rti's Apoha-Theory 116
Concerning Sameness of Effect 119
Are Universals Permanent? 126
Three Ways of Construing Apoha 131
3 SVABHA-VAPRATIBANDHA: THE BASIS OF INFERENCE 145
3.1 Relation through Svabhava: Beyond "Co-Presence" 148
The Two Senses of Svabhava 153
Svabhava as "Property" 155
Svabhava as "Nature" 158
Nature-svabhava and the Causal Complex 161
The Subject (dharmin) and Svabhava as "Nature" 169
3.2 The Production-mode of the Svabhavapratibandha 174
Some Issues in the Application of the Production-mode 177
Concerning Necessity 182
The Determination of the Production-mode 191
3.3 On the Relationship between Property and Nature 193
Some Heuristic Terms 196
The Subordination of Property to Nature 198
3.4 Svabhava-evidence and the Identity-mode 203
A Few Problems 218
4 INSTRUMENTALITY: JUSTIFYING THE SOURCES OF KNOWLEDGE 223
4.1 Pramanya as "Instrumentality" 223
Purpose and Instrumentality 229
The Role of Scripture 231
A Seeming Circularity 233
Scriptural Inference and Dharmak?rti's
Rejection of Credibility 239
Axiological Concerns: Mutual Restraint of Path and Goal 245
4.2 Dharmakirti on Instrumentality:
The Earliest Commentarial Account 252
Some Basic Definitions 253
"Telic Function" (arthakriy_) 256
Instrumentality (pramanya) in Terms of Two Effects 260
Instrumentality in Terms of the Mediated Effect 262
Instrumentality in Terms of the Unmediated Effect 268
The Two Effects and the Two Senses of Arthakriya 272
The Primacy of Purusartha 278
Instrumentality in Terms of Human Aims:
Some Problems and Solutions 280
A Disparity in Time 281
Obstructed Action 285
Perception and Confirmation 287
Perception as Motivator (pravartaka):
The Question of Novelty 298
Inference, Error, and Trustworthiness 310
Ultimate and Conventional Pramanya 314
Conclusion 319
Nature, Perception, and Refinement 320
APPENDIX OF TRANSLATIONS 331
A Note on the Translations 331
1. PVSV ad PV1.34-37 335
2. PVSV ad PV1.68-75 339
3. PVSV ad PV1.137-142 353
4. PVSV ad PV1.214-223 361
5. PV2.1-6 with Selections from PVP and PVT 374
6. PV3.1-10 with Selections from PVP and PVT 391
7. PV3.194-224 with Selections from PVP and PVT 396
8. Instrumentality in the Hetubindu (HB: 2*.13-3*.16) 412
5. Bibliography 417
Index