Ajñana
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Ajñana
''Ajñāna'' (, (Vedic) IPA: /ɐd͡ʑ.ɲɑː.nɐ/; (Classical) IPA: /ɐd͡ʑˈɲɑː.n̪ɐ/) was one of the Āstika and nāstika, ''nāstika'' or "heterodox" schools of Hindu philosophy, ancient Indian philosophy, and the ancient school of radical Indian Philosophical skepticism#Ajñana, skepticism. It was a Śramaṇa, Śramaṇa movement and a major rival of Pre-sectarian Buddhism, early Buddhism, Jainism and the Ājīvika school. They have been recorded in Buddhist and Jain texts. They held that it was impossible to obtain knowledge of metaphysical nature or ascertain the truth value of philosophical propositions; and even if knowledge was possible, it was useless and disadvantageous for final salvation. They specialized in refutation without propagating any positive doctrine of their own. Sanjaya Belatthiputta was one of the major proponents of this school of thought. Sources All of our knowledge of the Ajñāna come from the Buddhists and Jain sources. The Ajñāna view po ...
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Philosophical Skepticism
Philosophical skepticism (UK spelling: scepticism; from Ancient Greek, Greek σκέψις ''skepsis'', "inquiry") is a family of philosophical views that question the possibility of knowledge. It differs from other forms of skepticism in that it even rejects very plausible knowledge claims that belong to basic common sense. Philosophical skeptics are often classified into two general categories: Those who acatalepsy, deny all possibility of knowledge, and those who advocate for the Suspension_of_judgment, suspension of judgment due to the inadequacy of evidence. This distinction is modeled after the differences between the Academic skepticism, Academic skeptics and the Pyrrhonian skeptics in ancient Greek philosophy. Pyrrhonian skepticism is a practice of suspending judgement, and skepticism in this sense is understood as a way of life that helps the practitioner achieve inner peace. Some types of philosophical skepticism reject all forms of knowledge while others limit this rej ...
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Pyrrhonism
Pyrrhonism is an Ancient Greek school of philosophical skepticism which rejects dogma and advocates the suspension of judgement over the truth of all beliefs. It was founded by Aenesidemus in the first century BCE, and said to have been inspired by the teachings of Pyrrho and Timon of Phlius in the fourth century BCE. Pyrrhonism is best known today through the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, writing in the late second century or early third century CE. The publication of Sextus' works in the Renaissance ignited a revival of interest in Skepticism and played a major role in Reformation thought and the development of early modern philosophy. History Pyrrhonism is named after Pyrrho of Elis, a Greek philosopher in the 4th century BCE who was credited by the later Pyrrhonists with forming the first comprehensive school of skeptical thought. However, ancient testimony about the philosophical beliefs of the historical Pyrrho is minimal, and often contradictory: his teachin ...
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Āstika And Nāstika
Āstika (Sanskrit: आस्तिक; st̪ɪkᵊ IAST: ''Āstika'') and Nāstika (Sanskrit: नास्तिक; ̪ɑst̪ɪkᵊ IAST: ''Nāstika)'' are mutually exclusive terms that modern scholars use to classify the schools of Indian philosophy as well as some Hindu, Buddhist and Jain texts. The various definitions for ''āstika'' and ''nāstika'' philosophies have been disputed since ancient times, and there is no consensus.Nicholson, Andrew J. 2013. ''Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History''. Columbia University Press. . ch. 9.Doniger, Wendy. 2014. ''On Hinduism''. Oxford University Press. . p. 46. One standard distinction, as within ancient- and medieval-era Sanskrit philosophical literature, is that ''āstika'' schools accept the Vedas, the ancient texts of India, as fundamentally authoritative, while the ''nāstika'' schools do not. However, a separate way of distinguishing the two terms has evolved in current Indian language ...
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Charvaka
Charvaka (; IAST: ''Cārvāka''), also known as ''Lokāyata'', is an ancient school of Indian philosophy, Indian materialism. It's an example of the Hindu Atheism, atheistic schools in the Ancient Indian philosophies. Charvaka holds direct perception, empiricism, and conditional inference as proper sources of knowledge, embraces philosophical skepticism, and rejects ritualism. In other words, the Charvaka epistemology states that whenever one infers a truth from a set of observations or truths, one must acknowledge doubt; inferred knowledge is conditional. It was a well-attested belief system in ancient India. Brihaspati, a philosopher, is traditionally referred to as the founder of Charvaka or Lokāyata philosophy, although some scholars dispute this. Charvaka developed during the Hindu reformation period in the first millennium BCE, after Buddhism was established by Gautama Buddha and Jainism was re-organized by Parshvanatha. Its teachings have been compiled from historic sec ...
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Pre-sectarian Buddhism
Pre-sectarian Buddhism, also called early Buddhism, the earliest Buddhism, original Buddhism, and primitive Buddhism, is Buddhism as theorized to have existed before the various Early Buddhist schools developed, around 250 BCE (followed by later subsects of Buddhism). The contents and teachings of this pre-sectarian Buddhism must be deduced or re-constructed from the earliest Buddhist texts, which by themselves are already sectarian. The whole subject remains intensely debated by scholars, not all of whom believe a meaningful reconstruction is possible. "Early Buddhism" may also be used for considerably later periods. Name Various terms are being used to refer to the earliest period of Buddhism: * "Pre-sectarian Buddhism" * "Early Buddhism", * "The earliest Buddhism", * "Original Buddhism", * "The Buddhism of the Buddha himself." * Precanonical Buddhism * Primitive Buddhism Some Japanese scholars refer to the subsequent period of the early Buddhist schools as ''sectarian ...
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Ājīvika
''Ajivika'' (, IAST: ) is one of the Āstika and nāstika, ''nāstika'' or "heterodox" schools of Indian philosophy.Natalia Isaeva (1993), Shankara and Indian Philosophy, State University of New York Press, , pages 20-23James Lochtefeld, "Ajivika", ''The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism'', Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing. , page 22 Believed to have been founded in the 5th century BCE by Makkhali Gosala, Makkhali Gosāla, it was a ''Śramaṇa'' movement and a major rival of Historical Vedic religion, Vedic religion, Pre-sectarian Buddhism, early Buddhism, and Jainism. Ājīvikas were organized renunciates who formed discrete communities. The precise identity of the Ājīvikas is not well known, and it is even unclear if they were a divergent sect of the Buddhists or the Jains. Original scriptures of the Ājīvika school of philosophy may once have existed, but these are currently unavailable and probably lost. Their theories are extracted from mentions of Ājīvikas in the ...
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Sanjaya Belatthiputta
Sañjaya Belatthiputra (Pali: '; Sanskrit: ''Sañjaya Vairatiputra''; literally, "Sañjaya of the Belattha clan"), was an Indian ascetic philosopher who lived around the 7th-6th century BC in the region of Magadha. He was contemporaneous with Mahavira, Makkhali Gosala, Ajita Kesakambali and the Buddha, and was a proponent of the ajñana school of thought. Teacher Sanjaya is thought to be the first teacher of the future Buddha's future two great disciples, Maha-Moggallana and Sariputta. Both of them were followers of a person named Sanjaya Paribajjaka (Sanjaya the wanderer). Historically, Sanjaya Paribajjaka is considered to be same as Sanjaya Belatthiputta by many scholars. These two future arahants ultimately left Sanjaya's tutelage as it did not address their unresolved desire to end ultimate suffering. Sanjaya Paribajjaka also had a follower named Suppiya, and so was Tattvalabdha, a minister at the court of King Ajatashatru. Thought Hecker (1994) contextualizes Sanjaya's ...
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Śramaṇa
A ''śramaṇa''; ; ; ; ) is a person "who labours, toils, or exerts themselves for some higher or religious purpose" or "seeker, or ascetic, one who performs acts of austerity".Monier Monier-Williams, श्रमण śramaṇa, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, p. 1096 The śramaṇa tradition includes primarily Jainism, Buddhism, and others such as the Ājīvika. The śramaṇa religions became popular in the circles of mendicants from greater Magadha that led to the development of spiritual practices, as well as the popular concepts in all major Indian religions such as ''saṃsāra'' (the cycle of birth and death) and ''moksha'' (liberation from that cycle).Flood, Gavin. Olivelle, Patrick. 2003. ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism.'' Malden: Blackwell. pp. 273–274. The Śramaṇic traditions have a diverse range of beliefs, ranging from accepting or denying the concept of Soul, fatalism to free will, idealization of extreme asceticism to that of f ...
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Pyrrho
Pyrrho of Elis (; ; ) was a Greek philosopher of Classical antiquity, credited as being the first Greek skeptic philosopher and founder of Pyrrhonism. Life Pyrrho of Elis is estimated to have lived from around 365/360 until 275/270 BCE. Pyrrho was from Elis, on the Ionian Sea. He was likely a member of the Klytidiai, a clan of seers in Elis who interpreted the oracles of the Temple of Zeus at Olympia where Pyrrho served as a high priest. The Klytidiai were descendants of Klytios, who was the son of Alcmaeon and the grandson of Amphiaraus. In the ''Python'', Pyrrho's student Timon of Phlius describes first meeting Pyrrho on the grounds of an Amphiareion, i.e., a temple of Amphiaraus, while they were both on a pilgrimage to Delphi. Most biographical information on Pyrrho, as well as some information concerning his demeanor and behavior, come from Diogenes Laertius; his work on Pyrrho's life drew primarily from the works of mid-third century BC biographer Antigonus o ...
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Catuṣkoṭi
''Catuṣkoṭi'' (Sanskrit; Devanagari: चतुष्कोटि, , Sinhalese:චතුස්කෝටිකය) refers to logical argument(s) of a 'suite of four discrete functions' or 'an indivisible quaternity' that has multiple applications and has been important in the Indian logic and the Buddhist logico-epistemological traditions, particularly those of the Madhyamaka school. In particular, the catuṣkoṭi is a "four-cornered" system of argumentation that involves the systematic examination of each of the 4 possibilities of a proposition, ''P'': # ''P''; that is being. # not ''P''; that is not being. # ''P'' and not ''P''; that is being and that is not being. # not (''P'' or not ''P''); that is neither not being nor is that being. These four statements hold the following properties: (1) each alternative is mutually exclusive (that is, one of, but no more than one of, the four statements is true) and (2) that all the alternatives are together exhaustiv ...
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Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus (, ; ) was a Greek Pyrrhonist philosopher and Empiric school physician with Roman citizenship. His philosophical works are the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and Roman Pyrrhonism, and because of the arguments they contain against the other Hellenistic philosophies, they are also a major source of information about those philosophies. Life Little is known about Sextus Empiricus. He likely lived in Alexandria, Rome, or Athens. His Roman name, Sextus, implies he was a Roman citizen. The ''Suda,'' a 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia, states that he was the same person as Sextus of Chaeronea,Suda, Sextos σ 235. as do other pre-modern sources, but this identification is commonly doubted. In his medical work, as reflected by his name, tradition maintains that he belonged to the Empiric school in which Pyrrhonism was popular. However, at least twice in his writings, Sextus seems to place himself closer to the Methodic school. Philosophy ...
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