Early Buddhist Theory of Knowledge c2.3

c2.3

A further problem which has engaged the attention of scholars is the exact position which early Buddhism occupied in the development of Indian thought, the more so as it was regarded by some of them as a 'foreign body' in Indian philosophy. Moreover, they were of the opinion that the purely philosophical quality of the Pali canon was surprisingly deficient Again, Stcherbatsky stated that the Pali-school of Buddhologists entirely overlooked the system of philosophy which is present on every page of the Pali canon In his opinion, Buddhist authors played a leading part in the development of Indian epistemology This is certainly established for the later school of Dignāga and Dharmakīrti and their followers. Stcherbatsky's views are largely confirmed by the present work which is primarily concerned with the earlier period Dr Jayatilleke, who had the privilege of being admitted to Wittgenstein's classes, is that rare combination of accomplished philologist, historian and methodic philosopher His book goes far beyond the indication of its title. On the basis of a profound analysis of the relevant earlier and later texts as well as a critical re-examination of the works of his predecessors in the field, he traces with great ingenuity and scholarly thoroughness the epistemological foundations of Pali canonical thought, from the Vedic period onwards. His fully connected account sheds new light, not only on the problems of the earlier period which have engaged the attention of scholars during the past forty years, but also on those of the later developments. Moreover, with regard to the present day conflict of metaphysics versus logical and linguistic analysis, the book contains valuable material which elucidates from the Indian point of view some of the basic problems of this conflict.