Abstract

The first section of this chapter discusses three rival ontologies in the Indian context. The Buddhist envisions a world populated by phenomenal particulars. These are called the _svalaḳsạnas_, ‘self-characterized’. They include both physical phenomena such as colour-patches and mental phenomena, cognitive events and other ‘mental’ bits concomitant with them (mimi). The Nyāya–Vaíṣsika world is populated with three main types of particulars, certain (real) universals and one genuine relation. The particulars are substances, quality-instances, and action-moments. The third ontology is holistic. This is the view that says that the ultimate reality is one unbreakable, unstructured whole, which is the ultimate reference of all linguistic expressions and all thoughts. The second section discusses phenomenalism and atomism. The last section examines direct realism.