Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v1.c7.s7.t2.81

v1.c7.s7.t2.81

As for the form of inference, Dharmakirti had a unique understanding of “three-part” syllogism, and thought that “example” could be combined into “cause”, since the meaning or role of an example could be included into “cause”. Therefore, “example” actually does not necessarily become a separate part. However, Dharmakirti thought that it was not necessary to remove “example” or “three-part” syllogism and instead, the sequence of the “three parts” could be rearranged with “example” in the first and “proposition” in third. It would be “example-cause-proposition” and such a form of inference, in fact, is similar to “three-part” syllogism, and is something of deductive reasoning and is more rational or scientific.