is a Sanskrit word for "categories" in Vaisheshika and Nyaya schools of Indian philosophy.[ Padārtha, Jonardon Ganeri (2014), Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
Etymology
The term is a
portmanteau 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. 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
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Relation
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Place
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Time
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Posture
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Property
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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.
See also
-
Vaisheshika#The Categories or Pad%C4%81rtha
-
Nyaya#Sixteen categories (padārthas)
-
Categories_(Aristotle)
-
Kanada
External links
