Journal Article

Refuting Composite Substances: Buddhist Arguments Against the Nyāya-Vaiśes.ṣika Concept of Ārambha

Mao, Yufan

2025

Overview

In their respective works, Bhāviveka and Vinītadeva both refute the concepts of ārambha(ka) and the samavāya in the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika doctrine. The idea of ārambha asserts that a new whole is created ( ā-√rabh ) from its parts, namely, the creative elements ( ārambhaka ); but the whole is a simple substance that is distinct from those parts. The relation of inherence ( samavāya ) is introduced to establish a connection between the whole and its parts, indicating that the whole resides in its parts, and the parts serve as inherent causes for the whole (i.e., the effect). Vinītadeva argues that a whole cannot reside within its parts, either in their totality or through one of its aspects, as either case would negate its status as a simple substance. It is worth noting that similar arguments have been documented in the Nyāya-sūtra and its commentaries, and these debates also resonate in the Tattva-saṅgraha - pañjikā . The Naiyāyikas reject Buddhists’ arguments due to their divergent mereological perspective on the nature of a composite whole. The Naiyāyikas argue that using terms like ‘entirety’ or ‘partly’ to describe a unitary entity is semantically incorrect. Bhāviveka’s main arguments are also rooted in the Buddhist viewpoint, asserting that a composite object is nothing but an assemblage of its components and therefore cannot be a real and simple substance. Additionally, he questions the transitivity of parthood in a composite whole. This argument, I propose, reveals a mereological problem within the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika theory.

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Subject: Education / Non-Western Philosophy / Philosophy / Philosophy of Religion / Religious Studies