Studies in Indian Philosophy

Author(s): Dalsukh Malvania, Nagin J Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 62

Materialism, Idealism and Dualism
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'Indian Epistemology' and Indian Psychology' are to a very great extent - almost exclusively the achivement of India's dua. list philosophical schools. Nor did these schools make insignificant contribution towards the development of what might be called 'Indian Physical Science'. For stoutly rebuffing the idealist's contention that the material world is an illusory show they bestowed utmost attention upon the delineation of the characteristic features of this world. Here again they came out with different - and very often conflicting - theses because they were patronised by the scholars following mutually different traditions, but their total output in this connection was in no way unimpressive. Thus, for example, the Vaiśeşika, Nyāya, Jaina and Buddhist schools espoused the doctrine of atom though they advanced divergent arguments in support of it; (the Sārkhya and Mimāṁsā schools posited no atoms). Similarly, the Vaiseșika and Nyāya schools posited God-conceived as a supreme mind - as one who creates the material world out of pre-existing atoms, but the Buddhist, Jaina, Sān khy and Mimāṁsā schools refused to endorse this position. Again a section of Buddhists maintained that everything lasts for but one moment but the position was countered by the other dualist schools. And there were plenty of other doctrines -more or less cogent - relating to the constitution and function. ing of the material world which were upheld by the various dualist schools either in agreement with one another or in opposition to one another.
Even such a cursory treatment as was undertaken above of the materialist, idealist and dualist trends that emerged within the fold of Indian Pbilosophy raises the pertinent ques. tion as to what is signified by all this. And it has to be answered by saying that the materialist, idealist and dualist schools of Indian philosophy evinced different degrees of rationalism. Thus most rational of all the Indian philosophers were materialists, less rational than them were dualists, less rational then the dualists were mild idealists, less rational then the mild idealists were rabid idealists, least rational of all were pibilists. Here the nihilists were least rational of all because