Sensation, perception, and imagery: a study of the Buddhist epistemology of perception with particular reference to the Tattvasamgraha and the Tattvasamgrahanjika
Date
2004
Authors
Coseru, Christian
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Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University
Abstract
This dissertation examines the theory of perception as reflected in the works of two
influential Buddhist philosophers, Santarakita's Tattvasamgraha and its commentary by
Kamalasila, the Tattvasamgrahapanjika (ca. 750-800 C.E.). In these two works, the
authors advance the notion that perception ought to be regarded as the primary source of
knowledge and be restricted only to that cognition which is devoid of conceptual thought
and non-erroneous. Largely following a model provided by Dharmakirti (ca. 640 C.E.),
Santaraksita and Kamalasila adopt two specific viewpoints in defining the perceptual
aspects of knowledge: (i) the notion that the domains of language and conceptual thought
are coextensive, which can be traced back to the grammarian-philosopher Bhartrhari (ca.
4-5th century C.E.); and (ii) a psychological perspective centred on the notion that direct,
unmediated, perception is in fact possible, which finds its origins in the Abhidharma
literature. For these Buddhist epistemologists, perception is not only a psychological
process to be understood within the framework of classical Abhidharma psychology, but
also an epistemic modality for establishing what counts as a valid source of knowledge.
The authors' approach is to differentiate non-conceptual cognitions from the mass
of cognitive events that is characteristic of ordinary, 'folk,' beliefs about the contents
of experience. This differentiation resembles in many ways the methodology adopted
by modern psychological investigations into the mechanism of perception and knowledge
representation. Adopting a naturalist reading of epistemology, this dissertation argues that
Buddhist philosophers did not make a radical distinction between epistemology and the
psychological processes of cognition, at least not in the Western sense in which modern
epistemology has drifted away from naturalist explanations. Proceeding though a detailed
analysis of the textual material, this study concludes that the causal model of perceptual
knowledge developed in the two works is intended to provide an empirical foundation for
the Buddhist view that all phenomena arise in dependence upon a multitude of causes and
conditions and are in a perpetual state of flux.
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2033-11-12
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