Which one of the following classical Indian thinkers has made this argument?
Gotama's Reasoning on Soul Qualities
The argument that qualities such as desire and cognition necessarily require an underlying substance, and thus serve as marks to identify that substance (the soul), is attributed to the classical Indian thinker Gotama.
Nyaya School's Perspective
Gotama is the founder of the Nyaya school of Indian philosophy. The Nyaya school analyzes reality through categories like substance (dravya), quality (guna), and action (karma).
- Nyaya philosophy posits that qualities like cognition (jñāna), desire (icchā), aversion (dveṣa), effort (prayatna), and feelings like pleasure (sukha) and pain (duḥkha) do not exist independently.
- These qualities inhere in a substance.
- Gotama argued that the self or soul (ātman) is the substance in which these qualities reside. Therefore, the presence of these mental states and experiences serves as an inferential mark or sign of the existence of the soul.
This reasoning connects observable qualities to the unobservable substance, the soul.
Important Questions from Religion & Indian Society
- In Kāṣmīra Śaivism, Śiva is the only reality which assumes forms in cosmic manifestations. How many principles (tattvas) of cosmic manifestations does Kāṣmīra Śaivism admit?
- How many Pramāṇas are accepted in the Advaita theory of knowledge?
- In Jain ethical discipline, Mahāvratas (great vows) are given prominence. Which one of the following options contains the Mahāvratas of Jainism?
- Which one among the following is the theory of error advocated by Nyāya school of Indian philosophy?
- In Sānkhya system of Indian thought, _________ is constituted by (or a unity of) three guņas - sattva, rajas and tamas.
