Dear Madhav, I don’t think that Śāntideva supports a true anavasthā argument. One might say that, for him, the buck stops with Buddha….
best, Matthew Sent from [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) for iOS On Sat, Jun 8, 2024 at 20:56, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <[[email protected]](mailto:On Sat, Jun 8, 2024 at 20:56, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <<a href=)> wrote: > Dear Howard, > > Glad to remind you of your teacher, Professor Scharfe. As his book is in > German, it has not drawn as much attention in the Anglophone world. > Itaretarāśraya is like a chicken and egg argument. Apratiṣṭhāna, as brought > up in the Brahmasūtra [tarkāpratiṣṭhānād anyathānumeyam iti ced evam api > avimokṣaprasaṅgaḥ] says that all Tarka is apratiṣṭhita, and hence even if we > bring up a superior Tarka, that superior Tarka can be shown to be faulty by > an even more superior Tarka. Thus, there is a resulting Avimokṣa "no final > solution." In an interesting way, this argument reminds me of a line from > Śāntideva's Bodhicaryāvatāra "bādhyante dhīviśeṣeṇa yogino 'py uttarottaraiḥ" > [this attribution is from my aging memory]. Here the argument is that any > Yogic experience can be superseded by a higher level Yogic experience. This > is also a sort of Anavasthā. > Many systems have placed arbitrary limits to avoid Anavasthā. For example, > according to the Nyāya-Vaiśrṣikas, there is a relationship of Saṃyoga between > the monkey and the branch upon which the monkey is sitting. Now the Saṃyoga > as a Guṇa relates to the monkey with the relation of Samavāya, and the same > Saṃyoga relates to the branch with another Samavāya. Fine, but then what > relation would connect the Samavāya to Saṃyoga? Does this need another > Samavāya? So there is an interesting regresso ad infinitum situation. But the > Nyāya-Vaiśeṣikas say that no further relation is needed to connect a Samavāya > to Saṃyoga. But this is quite arbitrary. > > Thanks for bringing up this topic. Best wishes, > > Madhav > > Madhav M. Deshpande > Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics > University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USAg > Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies > Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India > > [Residence: Campbell, California, USA] > > On Sat, Jun 8, 2024 at 9:03 AM Howard Resnick <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Thank you Madhav for this information, and thank you for bringing to mind my >> first and much appreciated Sanskrit professor, Hartmut Scharfe, whom I >> studied with as an undergraduate at UCLA. >> >> Regarding itaretarāśṛaya, often taken to mean ‘mutual dependence’, can this >> be seen as an indirect or oblique indication of infinite regress, by way of >> an apratiṣṭhāna, foundationless, situation? >> >> Thanks and best wishes! >> Howard >> >>> On Jun 8, 2024, at 11:07 AM, Madhav Deshpande <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> Another source for discussions of topics like Anavasthā and Itaretarāśraya >>> may be Hartmut Scharfe's book: "Die Logik im Mahābhaāṣya," Berlin 1961. >>> >>> Madhav M. Deshpande >>> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics >>> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA >>> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies >>> Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India >>> >>> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA] >>> >>> On Sat, Jun 8, 2024 at 6:47 AM Howard Resnick via INDOLOGY >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>>> Thank you Philipp. Very helpful. >>>> >>>> All the best, >>>> Howard >>>> >>>>> On Jun 8, 2024, at 3:00 AM, Philipp Maas via INDOLOGY >>>>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>>> >>>>> Dear Howard, >>>>> On anavasthā and related terms in various systems of thought, see also >>>>> Oberhammer, G. (1991). Terminologie der frühen indischen Scholastik in >>>>> Indien. Vol. 1. A-I. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der >>>>> Wissenschaften, p. 32f. >>>>> >>>>> Best wishes, >>>>> >>>>> Philipp >>>>> >>>>> __________________________ >>>>> >>>>> Prof. Dr. Philipp A. Maas >>>>> Professor for Modern Indology >>>>> Institute of Indology and Tibetology >>>>> Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich >>>>> ___________________________ >>>>> >>>>> https://spp1448.academia.edu/PhilippMaas >>>>> >>>>> Am Di., 4. Juni 2024 um 11:05 Uhr schrieb Howard Resnick via INDOLOGY >>>>> <[email protected]>: >>>>> >>>>>> Dear Scholars, >>>>>> >>>>>> Does the nyāya system speak about the problem of an infinite regress of >>>>>> proofs? Aristotle famously identifies and then avoids this problem >>>>>> through the notion of a self-evident foundation or starting point of >>>>>> knowledge. In Western epistemology, this strategy is often called >>>>>> foundationalism. >>>>>> >>>>>> Is there anything at all similar or analagous in nyāya or other Indian >>>>>> schools? The Caitanya-caritāmṛta several times affirms that the Veda is >>>>>> ’self-evident’, svataḥ pramāṇa, but the term is not used there as a >>>>>> general or secular epistemic strategy. Is the CC simply repeating a >>>>>> well-known epistemic principle? >>>>>> >>>>>> All help will be greatly appreciated. >>>>>> >>>>>> Thanks! >>>>>> Howard >>>>>> >>>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>>> INDOLOGY mailing list >>>>>> [email protected] >>>>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >>>>> >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> INDOLOGY mailing list >>>>> [email protected] >>>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> INDOLOGY mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
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