Convergence and Divergence of Nyāya and Tattvavāda (Dvaita) Theories of Logic

Abstract

Indian epistemology has delved deep into the analysis of logic as a component of cognition. It is considered as an essential constituent or, rather, an essential process of inferential cognition. Most Indian schools of thought, except the materialists called Cārvākas, recognize inferential cognition as a kind of cognition. The varied schools developed conclusive theories of inference, each with their own unique contributions, resulting in a vast body of literature, often polemical, in this field of analysis.

This chapter focuses on providing an introduction to the various constituents and the logical process of inferential cognition according to the Indian intellectual tradition using illustrations, both classic and contemporary, for elucidation. It particularly focuses on the doctrines of the Nyāya and Dvaita Schools of philosophy in this regard and aims to objectively bring out the points of convergences and divergences in the theories of logic of the two schools and tries to provide the background for the divergences to clarify the reasons for the differences in their view points.