A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century A.D. v2.c35.22

v2.c35.22

The Buddhists—their Analysis and Vindication of Inference :—The Buddhists, however, take their stand on the principle of the Uniformity of Nature (प्रतिबन्ध, स्वभाव प्रतिबन्ध, Nyaya-Vindu). This uniformity, for scientific purposes, has to be divided into two different relations,—(1) the uniformity of succession in the relation of cause and effect, *e.g.*, of smoke to fire (कार्यकारणभाव, तदुत्पत्ति, Nyaya-Vindu) ; (2) the uniformity of co-existence (in the form of co-inherence in the same substrate) in the relation of genus and species, e.g., the relation of invariable concomitance expressed in the proposition,—all Sinsapás are trees,—which is not a relation of causality, but of co-existence or co-inherence in the same substrate (i.e., the co-inherence of the generic qualities of a tree with the specific characters of a Sisu tree, in this particular individual before me, a Sisu tree),—a relation which may be termed essential identity (तादात्म्य, स्वभाव—Nyaya-Vindu). To these two, the Buddhists add a third ground of inference, non-perception of the perceptible (अनुपलब्धि, दृश्यानुपलब्धि), which is employed in inferring the absence (प्रतिषेध) of a thing from the non-perception of something else. In all cases of inference based on the Uniformity of Nature, the relation is that of inseparableness or non-disjunction between the mark and the character inferred. The question is—how is this inseparableness (अविनाभाव) ascertained, and what is the warrant of our belief in it, in these cases?