Hetu vidyā

hetu vidyā (T. gtan tshigs rig pa གཏན་ཚིགས་རིག་པ་; C. yin ming 因明). One of the "five sciences" (pañcavidyā) of ancient India. Translated as "science of logic," "science of reasoning," "study of logic," "art of reasoning," etc.

The Princeton Dictionary states:

In Indian Buddhism, the term refers generally to a scholarly tradition that begins with Dignaga and Dharmakirti, a tradition known for an epistemological theory based on two means of knowledge (pramāṇa)—direct perception (pratyakṣa) and inference (anumāna)—and rejecting āgama, i.e., the authority of the scriptures, specifically the Vedas. Much of hetuvidyā focuses on the correct form of the syllogism (prayoga) that underpins correct inference.

The Digital Dictionary of Buddhism states:

Buddhist logic ... [developed] as part and parcel of the general philosophical milieu in India, where hetu-vidyā constituted one of the five branches of Indian science [pañcavidyā]. Thus, much of Buddhist logic is held in common with other Indian philosophical schools, such as Sāṃkhya, Vaiśeṣika, Vedanta and so forth, the adherents of which Buddhist philosophers engaged in debate.

See also

• Buddhist logico-epistemology

Sources

• Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University 

External links

• Pañcavidyā, Wikipedia
• Five major sciences, Rigpa Shedra Wiki
• གཏན་ཚིགས་རིག་པ་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary
• རིག་གནས་ཆེ་བ་ལྔ་, Christian-Steinert Dictionary