Gautama (Akshapada)

The Nyaya Sutras are placed by scholars roughly between the 2nd century BCE and the 2nd century CE, and probably grew in layers.

Editorial overview

Historical context

Gautama, also called Akshapada, is traditionally the author of the Nyaya Sutras, the root text of the Nyaya school of logic and epistemology. Almost nothing reliable is known about him, and legends about his name are late; he should be distinguished from Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. The sutras were expounded by Vatsyayana in the Nyaya Bhashya, and the school developed through centuries of debate with Buddhist logicians, culminating in the 'new Nyaya' (Navya-Nyaya) of Gangesha in the 14th century.

On attribution: Attribution of the Nyaya Sutras to a single author is traditional; scholars see signs of layered composition.

Core ideas

Liberation comes through correct knowledge of sixteen topics (padarthas) of reasoning and debate
Four means of valid knowledge (pramanas): perception, inference, comparison and reliable testimony
A five-membered form of inference for demonstrating conclusions to others
An enduring self (atman) is the substrate of cognition, desire and memory
Rules for debate and the identification of fallacies and faulty argument

Major works

Textन्यायसूत्रNyaya SutrasThe founding text of Nyaya: an account of the valid means of knowledge, the structure of inference, and the rules and pitfalls of debate.

Concepts

Conceptप्रमाणPramana — means of valid knowledgeThe accepted sources of valid knowledge, such as perception, inference and testimony.Conceptआत्मन्Atman — the SelfThe innermost Self — what you are beneath body, mind and personality.Conceptमोक्षMoksha — liberationFinal freedom from bondage and the cycle of rebirth.Conceptज्ञानJnana — knowledgeLiberating knowledge — seeing reality and the Self as they are.

Philosophical disagreements

Presented so you can understand each side — not to declare a winner.

With Buddhist philosophy
Nyaya thinkers argue that memory and recognition require an enduring self, against the Buddhist no-self and momentariness doctrines; commentators such as Vatsyayana and Uddyotakara debated Buddhist logicians like Dignaga, and the dispute continued for centuries.
With Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna's Vigrahavyavartani questions how the pramanas themselves can be established, a challenge usually read as directed at Nyaya-style epistemology.

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Related thinkers

कणादKanada नागार्जुनNagarjuna

Traditions

न्यायNyaya