Indian Philosophy of Language: Studies in Selected Issues

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This book examines some of the more important theories to be found in classical Indian philosophy that bear directly on current concerns in philosophy of language. The issues discussed are three: the problem of sentential unity, the sense-reference distinction, and our talk about the non-existent. In each case the author presents the views of selected Indian philosophers on the issue – views that differ in significant ways from those that are usually considered in contemporary debates in philosophy of language. The intention throughout is to add the voices of classical Indian theorists to these contemporary debates. Thus Indian approaches to such issues as the relation of word meaning to sentence meaning and the problem of negative existentials are not only explicated but also assessed for their adequacy relative to the approaches of classical and contemporary analytic philosophers of language. No background knowledge of Indian philosophy is presupposed; the book should thus prove of interest to specialists in philosophy of language, semantics, as well as to those working in Indian and comparative philosophy.