The book is based primarily on the source material available in the Pali Canon, studied historically and philosophically in the light of the contemporary, earlier and later literary evidence related to the subject. The antiquity and authenticity of the material is vouchsafed by the literary, linguistic, ideological, sociological and historical evidence existing in to Pali Canon itself. The book traces the origin of the theory of knowledge and its development in early Buddhism-the Hinayana Buddhism of Pali Canon.
The book is divided into nine chapters. Chs. 1-3 conduct a survey of the historical background of the Buddhist theory of knowledge-with special reference to Pali Canon Chs. 4-5 explain the Buddhist attitude to Authority and Reason. Ch. 6-7 deal with Analysis and meaning as well as Logic and Truth respectively. Ch.8 discusses the role of Authority and Reason in Buddhism and shows that Buddha is neither a traditionalist nor a rationalist in the strictly philosophical sense. Ch.9 deals with the means and limits of knowledge and propounds a number of theories: the theory of causation, perception, inference, empiricism, so on and so forth.
The book is documented with a Preface, List of Abbreviations, an Appendix, Chronological Table of Schools, Bibliography and Index.
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