Epistemology of Perception : Transliterated Text, Translation and Philosophical Commentary of Gangesa\'s Tattvacintamani (Jewel of Reflection on the Truth)

Contents: Preface to the Indian edition. Preface and acknowledgments (American edition). Preliminaries: 1. For philosophers. 2. For Sanskritists. Introduction: Gangesa and Nyaya philosophy: 1. An epistemology of "knowledge sources". 2. Cognition. 3. Inference. 4. Ontological categories. 5. Causality. 6. Predecessors and opponents.  Tattvacintamani: 1. Auspicious performance (mangala-vada). 2. The perception chapter (Pratyaksa-khanda). 3. Knowing veridicality (Pramanya-jnapti-vada). 4. Production of veridical cognition (Pramanyotpatti-vada). 5. Characterizing veridical awareness (Prama-laksana-vada). 6. Perceptual presentation of something as other than what it is (Anyatha-khyati-vada). 7. Characterizing perception (Pratyaksa-laksana-vada). 8. Sensory connection (Samnikarsa-vada). 9. Inherence (Samavaya-vada). 10. Non-cognition (an-upalabdhi-vada). 11. Absence (a-bhava-vada). 12. The connection of the sense object and light (visayaloka-samnikarsa-vada). 13. The perceptibility of air (vayu-pratyaksa-vada). 14. The Fiery character of Gold (Suvarna-taijasatva-vada). 15. The mind\'s atomicity (mano-\'nutva-vada). 16. Apperception (anuvyavasaya-vada). 17. Indeterminate perception (nirvikalpaka-vada). 18. Qualifiers versus indicators (visesanopalaksana-vada). 19. Determinate perception (savikalpaka-vada). Glossary. Notes. Bibliography. Index.

"The Tattvacintamani, or Jewel of reflection on the Truth (about epistemology), is the sole composition left us by the great fourteenth century Indian logician Gangesa Upadhyaya. With this foundational text Gangesa solidified the "New" (navya) phase of the long-running school of epistemology and metaphysics known in India as nyaya. The present work is a translation of the perception chapter (Pratyaksa-khanda) of this important text. The authors have provided an introduction covering essential theoretical and historical background, and a comparison of Nyaya with western epistemological traditions. The translation is augmented with a detailed running commentary which presents further background, contextualization, analysis, and comparison. Includes a glossary explaining in English every Sanskrit word used, brief characterizations of persons and schools, and a detailed index." (jacket)