Question

Which of the following writers was the founder of Buddhist logic and has been called the Father of Medieval Nyaya?
A) Dharmakirti
B) Dignaga
C) Bhavaviveka
D) Buddhapalita

Answer 1

Hint: Nyāya literally means "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment". It is one of the six orthodox schools of Hinduism and this school's most significant contribution to Indian philosophy was systematic development of the theory of logic, methodology, and its treatises on epistemology.

Complete answer:
Nyaya school's epistemology agrees with four out of six Pramanas as reliable means of acquiring knowledge – Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāṇa (inference), Upamāṇa (comparison and analogy) and Śabda (word, testimony of past or present reliable experts). All the four authors given as options are logicians.

Let us analyze the analyze the given options:
Option A) Dharmakirti: The above option is incorrect as Dharmakīrti, was an influential Indian Buddhist philosopher who worked at Nālandā. He was one of the key scholars of epistemology in Buddhist philosophy, and was also one of the primary theorists of Buddhist atomism.

Option B) Dignaga: The above option is correct as Dignāga was an Indian Buddhist scholar and one of the Buddhist founders of Indian logic. Dignāga's work laid the groundwork for the further progress of deductive logic in India and created the first system of Buddhist logic and epistemology. Hence, he was the founder of Buddhist logic and has been called the Father of Medieval Nyaya.

Option C) Bhavaviveka: The above option is incorrect as Bhāviveka, also called Bhavya or Bhāvaviveka was a sixth-century Madhyamaka Buddhist. He is the founder of the Svātantrika tradition of the Mādhyamaka school of Buddhism, which is seen as antagonistic to Prāsaṅgika Madhyamaka.

Option D) Buddhapalita: The above option is incorrect as Buddhapālita was a commentator on the works of Nagarjuna and Aryadeva. His works were criticized by his contemporary Bhāviveka, and then defended by the later Candrakīrti.

Dignaga was the writer who is the founder of Buddhist logic and has been called the Father of Medieval Nyaya. Hence the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note: Nyaya school holds that human suffering results from mistakes/defects produced by action under wrong knowledge or information (ideas and ignorance). It states that Moksha (liberation) is gained through right knowledge. This reason led Nyaya to concern itself with epistemology, which is the reliable means to acquire correct knowledge and to remove wrong ideas. False knowledge isn’t simply ignorance to Naiyyayikas, it incorporates delusion. Correct knowledge is discovering and overcoming one's delusions, and understanding the real essence of soul, self and reality.