Language and Reality: On an Episode in Indian Thought

by Johannes Bronkhorst, Michael S. Allen, Rajam Raghunathan

For a number of centuries Indian philosophers of all persuasions were convinced that there was a particularly close connection between language and reality, also, or even primarily, between sentences and the situations they describe. This shared conviction was responsible for a perceived problem. Different currents in Indian philosophy can be understood as different attempts to solve this problem; these include the satkāryavāda of the Sāṃkhyas, the anekāntavāda of the Jainas, the śūnyavāda of the Buddhists, and many others. By bringing to light the shared problem underlying almost all schools of Indian philosophy, this book shows the interconnectedness of currents that had hitherto been thought of as quite independent of each other.

Genres: Philosophy, Linguistics

170 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Johannes Bronkhorst is a Dutch Orientalist and Indologist, specializing in Buddhist studies and early Buddhism. He is emeritus professor at the University of Lausanne.