This book is an attempt at a reconstruction of the YOgacara subjective idealism and an exhaustive criticism of it by different schools of Indian realism. The exposition of the doctrine is based on the works of Santaraksita and Kamalasila and the critics of Vijnanavada. Generally the exposition and criticism of the doctrine by every eminent thinker have been given separately. Most of the critics give a fair and impartial account of Vijnanavada and contribute to the clarification of the idealist position. The author has dealt with the controversy between subjective idealism and realism in Indian thought and tried to give a fairly full account of the arguments by which Indian realists seek to establish the reality of the external world.
Incidentally the Yogacara subjective idealism has been compared with the idealism of Berkeley and the sensationalism of Hume and the resemblances and differences between them have been briefly noted. A striking feature of the book is that the parallel arguments of many contemporary realists have been quoted simply to indicate that the philosophical genius of a particular type is apt to move in the same groove, irrespective of the soil it thrives in. |
