Abstract
The article deals with some facets of the phenomenon of the underdetermination of meaning by (linguistic) data which are particularly relevant for textual exegesis in the historico-philological disciplines. The paper attempts to demonstrate that lack of relevant information is by no means the only important reason why certain issues of interpretation cannot be definitely settled by means of traditional philological methods but that the objective nonexistence of pertinent data is equally significant. It is claimed that the phenomenon of objective under-determination possesses among others two major consequences: (1) A strict separation between the exploration of the history of (Indian) philosophy and philosophical criticism is theoretically incorrect. (2) Transference of indeterminacy and vagueness to the target langue in translations of textual sources is not only legitimate but sometimes most appropriate. Presumably the relevance of the discussed issues is not strictly confined to the area of Indian philosophy.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Hahn, M. (1996). Lehrbuch der klassischen tibetischen Schriftsprache (7. revised edition). Indica et Tibetica 10. Swisttal-Odendorf.
Kellner, B. (1997). Review of Vier Studien zum Altindischen Syllogismus. In Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies (Vol. 60, No. 2, pp. 382–383) University of London (1985)
Künne, W. (1985). Sinn(losigkeit) in ‘über Gewissheit’. In Teoria 2, pp. 113–133.
Lemmon, E. J. (1965/1971). Beginning logic. London: Nelson.
Liu M.-T. (1964) Deutsch-Chinesische Syntax. Walter de Gruyter & Co, Berlin
Nenninger, C. (1992). Aus Gutem Grund. Praśastapādas anumāna-Lehre und die drei Bedingungen des logischen Grundes. Philosophia Indica. Einsichten-Ansichten. Band 1. Reinbek: Dr. Inge Wezler Verlag für Orientalistische Fachpublikationen.
Oetke, C. (1994a). Vier Studien zum altindischen Syllogismus. I) Eine Rehabilitierung des fünfgliedrigen Syllogismus, II) Der fünfgliedrige Schluß und Theorien der hypothetischen Erklärung, III) Zur Verteidigung des fünfgliedrigen Beweises in der späteren Tradition des Nyāya und Vaiśeṣika (Die Nyāyamañjarī und die Vyomavatī), IV) Der fünfgliedrige Syllogismus als Gegenstand interkultureller Untersuchungen. Philosophia Indica. Einsichten-Ansichten. Band 2. Reinbek: Dr. Inge Wezler Verlag für Orientalistische Fachpublikationen.
Oetke, C. (1994b). Studies on the Doctrine of Trairūpya. Wien: Wiener Studien zur Tibetologie und Buddhismuskunde 33.
Oetke, C. (2006). Logic Matters in the Prasannapadā . A Study on Reasoning and Proof in Metaphysics. Stockholm: Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis. (Stockholm Oriental Studies 18).
Śāstrī. Pt. H. (Ed.). (1927). Nyāya Līlāvatī by Vallabhāchāryya. With the Commentaries of Vardhamānopādhyāya, Śaṅkara Miśra and Bhagīratha Ṭhakkura. Benares: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series.
Sjödin, A.-P. (2006). The Happening of Tradition. Vallabha on Anumāna in Nyāyalīlāvatī. Dissertation presented at Uppsala University, Uppsala, Stockholm.
Snell, R., & Weightman, S. (1989). Teach yourself hindi. Teach Yourself Books, Sevenoaks, Kent.
Sombé L. (1990) Reasoning under Incomplete information in artificial intelligence: A comparison of formalisms using a single example. International Journal of Intelligent Systems 5: 323–472
Taber J. (1995) Review of Studies on the doctrine of trairūpya. In Journal of the American Oriental Society 115(4): 697–699
Taber J. (2004) Is Indian Logic Nonmonotic? Philosophy East and West 54(2): 143–170
Yip P.-C., Rimmington D. (1997) Chinese: An essential grammar. Routledge, London
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Oetke, C. Some Issues of Scholarly Exegesis (In Indian Philosophy). J Indian Philos 37, 415–497 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-009-9072-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-009-9072-1