Course info
PHIL0179: Topics in Classical Indian Philosophy (19/20)
The aim of this module is to study a debate in Indian epistemology. The
topic of the debate: Is it possible for us to do epistemology at all? A
group of Indian Buddhists---the Mādhyamikas (literally, the followers of
the Middle Way)---said, “No.” On their view, if epistemology is
construed as the positive project of explaining how we acquire different
kinds of knowledge, then it is impossible, since we cannot really show that
there is any way for us to know anything. A group of non-Buddhists---all
part of the Nyāya tradition (literally, the science of critical
inquiry)---resisted this claim. In this module, we will look a close look
at the arguents that these philosophers offer. Along the way, we will see
how they have important connections with a number of live questions in
epistemology, e.g., about Humean scepticism, easy knowledge and epistemic
bootstrapping, the knowledge norm of assertion, and the KK principle.
Course contacts
Course Administrator
ND