Vaiśeṣika

Research record

The peculiarity of Vaisheshika is that he does not confine philosophy to the question of liberation or enlightenment, but dares to systematically classify the world into whatever kinds of entities are perceived. For this reason, Vaisheshika is a very important realist tradition in Indian metaphysics. Its core questions are why materialism is made up of basic types of objects, qualities, actions, and relationships, and how to understand permanence in the midst of change. The Vaisheshika Sūtra is traditionally associated with the name of Kanada, but the dating of the text is disputed. Because of the long edit-history of the available text, it is not appropriate to consider its ideas as being of the same moment. In the early Vaisheshikas, the substance, quality, and karma take on a special significance; later commentators take the systematic form of a list of six substances, including ksha and samasya, common to the prasadapada tradition. The later Nyaya-Vaisheshika tradition also develops a tendency to accept scarcity as an independent substance. This evolution leads to a methodological lesson: philosophical classification is not a static lexicon but a conceptual framework evolving under the pressure of problems. Vaisheshika considers nine types of matter: earth, water, fire, air, space, time, direction, country, soul, and mind. In this list, the physical elements, space-time, conscious soul and subtle mind fall under the same metaphysical category śramaṇa, because matter can be a host of qualities and karmas, and some types of actions have a common cause. This list is not an alphabetical list of modern sciences. Earthworms are a category of metaphysical entities, similar to modern chemical substances. Parallel philosophy makes this distinction clear when making comparisons. Vaisheshika 's famous contribution is the atomistic natural philosophy. The atoms of earth, water, and air are thought to be indivisible and eternal. visible physical objects are created and destroyed by the combination of atoms. The soul and mind are not thought to be made up of physical atoms in the sense that the sky is time. To say that this atomism is the precursor of modern nuclear science would be attractive but misleading. Modern atomic experiments are the result of mathematical physics and empirical observation.Vaisheshika atomism is a system of metaphysical and logical inference. However, both can be put into dialogue as both scenes raise the question of the microstructure behind complex objects. Problem-structural comparisons, not historical parallels, are appropriate. The quality depends on the substance, but not on the substance itself. Many qualities such as form, taste, smell, touch, number, magnitude, separation, association, division, intelligence, happiness, sorrow, desire, hatred, and effort were analyzed in the Vaisheshika-Nyaya tradition. Karma is the range of motion or range of action. The philosophical significance of this distinction is that the three questions of what a thing is and what a thing possesses and what a thing does are not the same. The language often tends to confuse these levels. For example, the relationship between red and yellow objects is not the same entity. walking and moving objects also require analysis. Common is the basis by which several individual things are identified as belonging to the same species or variety. Examples are given in the tradition as singing within many cows, singing within many components. Special is a concept used to describe the ultimate differences between particular substances. Here Vaisheshika raises the problem of universality and individuality. Whether the commonality of things is merely a classification of our mind or whether there is also a common element in reality. In modern metaphysics it is possible to compare universals with the disputes over properties and particulars, but it is necessary to set aside the historical meaning of the terms.

Structured debate

Uttarapakṣa

In the latter case, Vaisheshika may say that a separate category is necessary for a proper explanation of the actual differences in language and experience. I would not be able to tell the real difference if the traits and individuals considered similarities and relationships were the same kind of entity. But the number of categories is not the only convention; each category adds a criterion parallel to the other to prove its explanatory function.

Parallel conclusion

Vaisheshika is a powerful realistic metaphysics of Indian philosophy. It asks what kind of being is to be considered in the world and how to understand their interrelationships, especially through the discussion of karma, the quality of matter, and karma. Its atomism is not modern science but a historical example of philosophical speculation on the microscopic structure of the natural world. Parallel philosophy reads Vaisheshika as a school of conceptual rigour rather than a story of glory.

Section index

1. 10.1 Kanada and Vaisheshika Sutras
2. 10.2 Matter: The Basis of Properties and Action
3. 10.3 Atomism
4. 10.4 Virtue and Karma
5. 10.5 General and special cases
6. 10.6 Consensus: The Problem of the Unbreakable Relationship
7. 10.7 Absence: The Existence of Absence
8. 10.8 Causality: A different path from Samkhya
9. 10.9 The Soul and the Mind and Knowledge
10. 10.10 Vaisheshika and Nyaya: Proximity but not complete equality
11. 10.11 Previous: Why do we need to accept so many categories?
12. 10.12 The text of the Parallel Philosophy

Cite this record

Gajendra Thakur. “Vaiśeṣika.” Videha Digital Research Archive: Mithila–Vajji–Anga. Videha — https://www.videha.co.in/ · ISSN 2229-547X · GitHub mirror: https://videha-ejournal.github.io/videha/ · Digital Research Archives on GitHub: https://github.com/videha-ejournal. https://videha-ejournal.github.io/mithila-vajji-anga/records/idea/philosophy-10/