The Nobles´ Truths in Indian Buddhist Epistemology

The Nobles Truths, the Buddhas teaching about suffering and liberation from suffering, are a central topic in the history of Buddhism and appear prominently in South Asian philosophical debate. The Indian philosopher Dharmakirti (6th7th? century), one of the most influential representatives of the Buddhist epistemological tradition, discusses the four Truths in his first work (Pramaavarttika) within the framework of a proof of the authoritativeness of the Buddha as a means of valid cognition. This project will present an in-depth study of this discussion according to the interpretation provided by Manorathanandin (probably 11th century), who composed the last commentary in Sanskrit on Dharmakirtis text. The study will be based on a critical edition and accompanying English translation of relevant sections in the Pramaavarttika and Manorathanandins commentary thereon. The Sanskrit texts will be critically edited using the extant manuscripts containing these works, together with related Tibetan translations. The projects historical-philological approach will be complemented by a philosophical approach. The synergy between the two perspectives will shed light on Dharmakirtis intellectual agenda and the history of the reception of his work. At the same time, it will produce a fine-grained analysis of a central aspect of South Asian philosophy, namely how, in both intra- and inter-doctrinal debate, philosophical concepts are linked with soteriological issues. In doing this, the project will enrich our understanding of the South Asian intellectual world in the premodern period. Furthermore, through its focus on the commentarial interpretation of a philosophical work, the project will allow our picture of the hermeneutical tradition in South Asia to gain in sophistication and will contribute to recent calls for research on the history of philology in South Asia. Indeed, rich material for such inquiries is provided by the philological activity reflected precisely in the commentarial production surrounding Dharmakirtis work.

The Nobles' Truths in Indian Buddhist Epistemology This was a research project on the history of philosophy of Indian Buddhism. It dealt with a philosophical analysis of the four nobles' Truths - the Buddha's teaching about suffering and liberation from suffering - as found in the work of the epistemologist and logician Dharmakrti (6th-7th centur), one of the most influential philosophers of South Asia. The project's philosophical analysis was complemented by a historical-philological study and English translation of the Sanskrit texts of Dharmakrti's Pramavrttika (PV) on the four Truths, together with the segments on the Truths of suffering and its arising in the commentary on the PV composed by Manorathanandin (probably 11th century). The text-critical work included evidence from manuscript and printed editions of the relevant Sanskrit and Tibetan texts. The project has shown how Dharmakrti's discussion of the Truths is linked to the issue of the Buddha's epistemic and religious authority as well as to a specific idea of omniscience. This has provided important elements for understanding Dharmakrti's agenda as a religious philosopher and the reception of his doctrinally-based ideas. The project-related symposium "Paths to Liberation in Hindu and Sikh Traditions" helped to gain an updated perspective of the views on the Path to liberation that developed after Dharmakrti's time. Results of the project include the collected volume Mrga: Paths to Liberation in South Asian Buddhist Traditions; the articles "Seeing as Cognizing: Perception, Concepts, and Meditation Practice in Indian Buddhist Epistemology" and "Dharmakrti on the Role of Salvific Initiation and the Reception of His Critique in the Later Śaiva Tradition"; and a Poster presentation for the "Lange Nacht der Forschung" at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, "Kognitive Prozesse und Meditationspraxis".