is a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

word for "categories" in Vaisheshika and

Nyaya Nyāya (Sanskrit: न्यायः, IAST: nyāyaḥ), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment", is one of the six orthodox (Āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Nyāya's most significant contributions to Indian philosophy ...

schools of

Indian philosophy Indian philosophy consists of philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The philosophies are often called darśana meaning, "to see" or "looking at." Ānvīkṣikī means “critical inquiry” or “investigation." Unlike darśan ...

.Padārtha
Jonardon Ganeri (2014), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Etymology

The term is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of , "word" and , "meaning" or "referent", and so the term indicates "the meaning or referent of words".

Philosophical significance

Almost all of India's philosophical systems accept liberation as life's ultimate goal; it is the ''

summum bonum ''Summum bonum'' is a Latin expression meaning the highest or ultimate good, which was introduced by the Roman philosopher Cicero to denote the fundamental principle on which some system of ethics is based—that is, the aim of actions, which, ...

''. Each philosophy prescribes the means to that end independently. According to Aksapada Gautama, liberation can be attained by true knowledge of the categories or ''padārthas''. According to the Vaisheshika school, all things that exist, which can be conceptualized, and that can be named are ''padārthas'', the objects of experience.

Types

Vaisheshika

According to Vaisheshika, ''padārtha'' or objects of experience can be divided as (real existence) and (non-existence). The ''bhāva padārthas'' are of six types, while abhāva was added later. These are: * (substance), an entity having ''guna'' and ''karma'' * (quality), the substrate of substance, devoid of action * (activity), transient and dynamic, i.e., upward movement, downward movement, contraction, expansion, and locomotion * (generality), the classicism of the substances i.e. ''papa'', ''apara,'' ''parapara'' * (particularity) * (inherence) * (non-existence), add by later Vaiśeṣikas scholars such as Śrīdhara, Udayana and Śivāditya.

Nyaya

Nyāya metaphysics recognizes sixteen s, the second of which, called , includes the six (or seven) categories of the Vaiśeṣika school. They are:

Western philosophy

s are distinct from the categories of Aristotle, Kant, and Hegel. According to Aristotle, categories are logical classification of predicates; Kant states that categories are only patterns of understanding, while Hegel’s categories are dynamic stages in the development of thought. The Vaiśeṣika categories are a metaphysical classification of all knowable objects. Aristotle accepts ten categories: * Substance * Quality * Quantity * Relation * Place * Time * Posture * Property * Activity * Passivity The Vaiśeṣikas instead place the concepts of time and place under substance; relation under quality; inherence, quantity and property under quality. Passivity is considered the opposite of activity. Akṣapāda Gautama enumerates sixteen s.

References

External links

Category in the Encyclopædia Britannica

Padārtha in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padartha Hindu philosophical concepts Philosophical categories