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    Dignāga's logic, influential across Indian philosophical ... — Carmelics
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    Supports→'Everything in the world' cannot serve as the locus of the inference for God's existence

    Dignāga's logic, influential across Indian philosophical schools, holds that a valid hetu must satisfy pakṣadharmatā: the reason must genuinely characterize the entire proposed locus without exception.

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    Reasons For

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    • 1.Logic requires consistent rules: if a reason can fail to characterize even one instance, argumentation becomes unreliable and permits sophistry.
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    • 2.Pakṣadharmatā ensures reasons are genuinely related to their conclusions, preventing vacuous or accidental correlations from passing as valid inference.
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    • 3.Universal characterization distinguishes legitimate logical grounds from mere rhetorical persuasion, preserving rational discourse standards.
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    Reasons Against

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    • 1.Natural language and real inference often work with probabilistic or default reasons that hold in most cases without absolute universality.
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    • 2.Requiring pakṣadharmatā may exclude legitimate inferences about complex phenomena where exceptions exist but the reason remains rationally compelling.
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    • 3.The criterion risks circularity: determining whether a reason 'genuinely characterizes the entire locus' may presuppose what counts as valid inference.
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    Key Terms

    Dignāga(as the main philosopher being discussed)
    A Buddhist philosopher from around 480-540 CE who made major contributions to how we know things are true, particularly focusing on perception and reasoning.
    Indian philosophical schools(as the various philosophical communities influenced by Dignāga's ideas)
    Different traditions of philosophy that developed in ancient and medieval India, each with their own ideas about truth, knowledge, and reality.
    Logic(Introduced as an overarching category encompassing rhetoric, poetics, sophistical syllogistic, dialectic, and demonstration.)
    The universal instrument for distinguishing between the true and the false, whose nature varies according to its objects and ends.
    hetu(Nyāya inference structure)
    The reason property used to infer the presence of the sādhya in the pakṣa
    locus(Buddhist atomic theory critique)
    The spatial location occupied by an atom; the argument treats locus as exclusive — one atom's locus cannot simultaneously be the locus of another distinct atom.
    pakṣadharmatā(One of the standard conditions for valid inference)
    The condition that the locus of inference possesses the inferential sign (h); distinct from pakṣaṭā
    valid(Contrasted with the proof-theoretic notion of deducibility)
    A model-theoretic notion indicating that a conclusion is true in every model in which the premises are true

    Connections

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    Natural Theology1 linked

    Related

    'Everything in the world' cannot serve as the locus of the inference for God's e...Logic requires consistent rules: if a reason can fail to characterize even one i...Natural language and real inference often work with probabilistic or default rea...Pakṣadharmatā ensures reasons are genuinely related to their conclusions, preven...

    Details

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    Perspectives
    2 (1 for, 1 against)
    Edits
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    Requiring pakṣadharmatā may exclude legitimate inferences about complex phenomen...The criterion risks circularity: determining whether a reason 'genuinely charact...Universal characterization distinguishes legitimate logical grounds from mere rh...