The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies v2.c15.s8.2

v2.c15.s8.2

An extended history of Indian logic has yet to be written. Little is known of the beginnings of these reflections. Argument is indulged in in the earliest texts, the Vedas and Upanishads, and there are references in the Upanishads to a science of “dialogue,” though it is unclear what this consisted of. During the Buddha’s and Mahāvīra’s period, argumentation was enriched. The Buddha’s method of answering questions is noteworthy: asked whether a metaphysical proposition was true or not, he sometimes answered by denying that it was true, false, both, or neither; this method became the touchstone of Nāgārjuna’s Mādhyamika system. Mahāvīra developed a “logic of perhaps,” the so-called *syādvāda* or sevenfold predication, which made much of the different points of view from which propositions, might be taken to be true, false or possible. Some of the *suttas* of the Buddhist canon mention *tārkikas* or logicians, and a chapter of the Majjhimanikāya is called *anumānasutta*, the chapter on inference. Manu and the epics refer to logic and logicians, sometimes taking a dim view of their ways and warning the devout against them.