[Buddha-l] Pramana terms

[Piya Tan]

Dear Richard, Dan or anyone who knows Dharmakirti,

I often come across this sort of note in reference works on Dharmakirti:

Dharmakirti also introduced a threefold distinction of valid middle
terms: the middle (hetu) must be related to the major premises either
by iden­tity ("This is a tree because it is a bodhi"), or as cause and
effect ("This is fiery because it is smoky"), or the middle is a
non-perception from which the absence of the major could be inferred.

Are the two examples correct?
What about the third example where "the middle is a non-perception
from which the
absence of the major could be inferred". Could you give me an example?

Thanks,

Piya Tan


On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 4:57 PM, Piya Tan <dharmafarer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Thanks Richard & Dan,
>
> The reference comes from the Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism (ed Damien
> Keown et al):
>
> Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism
>
> Richard's answer helps to explains the sense of the two terms to me. Thanks.
> Dan's exposition is really help for my follow-up reading. Thanks, again.
>
> Piya Tan
>
>
>
> On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 2:10 PM, Dan Lusthaus <vasubandhu at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>> If I can piggyback on Richard's thoughtful answer, there is at least one
>> important additional distinction between svaartha inference and paraartha
>> inference for Dignaga, a distinction that, I believe, is no longer operative
>> (at least in the same way) with Dharmakirti and his subsequents.
>>
>> This additional distinction is often overlooked in the secondary literature
>> because it is primarily laid out in Dignaga's Nyaayamukha, which only
>> survives in Chinese (two translations), and people who work on pramanavada
>> tend to deal with Tibetan and Sanskrit, not Chinese. (I haven't seen the
>> relevant portions of the Jinendrabuddhi text that would deal with this yet,
>> so don't know if/how they modify what Nyayamukha says.)
>>
>> For Dignaga a pramana provides knowledge, but in certain specific senses.
>> First, a specific pramana provides knowledge that cannot be provided by any
>> other means or pramana. Thus, the knowledge gained by perception cannot be
>> gained from inference and vice versa. There is no inferential argument that
>> can settle whether the moon is round -- that knowledge can only be gained by
>> perception; to attempt an inference addressing that would be automatically
>> fallacious.
>>
>> Second, a pramana only provides new knowledge, something not known before.
>> Hence what "knowledge" means in this context is not a storehouse or set of
>> accumulated facts, but something realized in the moment. Hence when two
>> people are arguing with inferences, one is trying to convince the other of
>> something the first person already (thinks he) knows. For him, the argument
>> is not a pramana, just an inference. If he is successful in awakening
>> knowledge in the second person, then the inference served as a pramana for
>> the second person, but not for the one proferring the argument. That is
>> paraartha anumaa.na.
>>
>> When one is reasoning inferentially to figure out something one doesn't know
>> yet, and is successful in acquiring that knowledge, that is svaartha
>> anumaa.na.
>>
>> Knowledge once acquired no longer involves pramana. The turning point,
>> perhaps, is the moment one reaches a ni"scaya -- a decisive judgement
>> concerning some matter.
>>
>> Perception, since always novel from moment to moment, is a perpetual
>> pramana -- but only if one takes cognizance of it (svasa.mvitti).
>>
>> If Richard (or anyone else) understands Dignaga differently, I'd be
>> interested to hear an explanation.
>>
>> Dan
>>
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>
>
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--
The Minding Centre
Blk 644 Bukit Batok Central #01-68 (2nd flr)
Singapore 650644
Tel: 8211 0879
Meditation courses & therapy: http://themindingcentre.googlepages.com
Website: dharmafarer.googlepages.com