Vasubandhu's own Abhidharma framework requires that cognitive episodes be causally grounded in appropriately proximate external conditions (ālambana-pratyaya), not merely simultaneous internal correlates.

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Reasons For

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Reason for

1.Vasubandhu explicitly defines ālambana-pratyaya as the object condition that cognition depends upon, logically requiring external reference.
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2.Internal correlates alone cannot explain why cognitions of different objects arise—only external conditions differentiate cognitive content.
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3.Vasubandhu's causal realism about pratyaya prevents reducing cognition to epiphenomenal products of internal states sans worldly grounding.
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Reasons Against

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Reason against

1.Vasubandhu acknowledges dream and illusion cognitions with absent or distorted objects, undermining the necessity of appropriately proximate externals.
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2.The Abhidharma framework treats ālambana functionally as representational content, not requiring metaphysically independent external particulars.
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3.Internal correlates (skandhas, dhātus) in Vasubandhu's system exhaustively constitute experience; external conditions may merely be conceptual impositions.
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Key Terms

Abhidharma(as the type of Buddhist literature being studied): A collection of Buddhist texts that carefully analyze and organize Buddhist teachings into detailed categories and logical frameworks.
Appropriately proximate external conditions(as what must cause cognition according to Vasubandhu): Real things outside your mind that are close enough and relevant enough to actually cause your thoughts or perceptions to happen.
Causally grounded(as the requirement for cognitive episodes): Requires a real cause or reason to happen; not something that can exist or happen on its own without something else making it happen.
Cognitive episodes(as the mental events being analyzed): Individual moments of thinking, perceiving, or experiencing something—basically, each separate act of your mind engaging with the world.
Internal correlates(as what Vasubandhu argues is insufficient by itself): Mental or brain-related things that happen alongside your thoughts, but aren't necessarily caused by anything real outside you.
Vasubandhu(the subject of the argument being discussed): An ancient Indian Buddhist philosopher (around 4th-5th century) who developed sophisticated theories about the mind and reality, particularly the idea that everything we experience might be mental constructs rather than external objects.
ālambana-pratyaya(as the technical Buddhist term for what grounds perception): A Sanskrit term meaning 'object-condition'—the external thing that a thought or perception is actually about, which causes the mind to engage with it.

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Consciousness & Mind1 linked Perception1 linked

Internal correlates (skandhas, dhātus) in Vasubandhu's system exhaustively const...Internal correlates alone cannot explain why cognitions of different objects ari...

Details

Type: claim
Perspectives: 2 (1 for, 1 against)
Edits: 1 edit