The concept of “self-awareness” (svasaṃvedana) enters Buddhist epistemological discourse in the Pramā?asamuccaya and -v?tti by Dignāga (ca. 480–540), the founder of the Buddhist logico-epistemological tradition. Though some of the key passages have already been dealt with in various publications, no attempt has been made to comprehensively examine all of them as a whole. A close reading is here proposed to make up for this deficit. In connection with a particularly difficult passage (PS(V) 1.8cd-10) that presents the means of valid cognition and its result (pramā?a/pramā?aphala), a new interpretation is suggested, inspired by the commentary of Jinendrabuddhi. This interpretation highlights an aspect of selfawareness that has hitherto not been claimed for Dignāga: self-awareness offers essentially subjective access to one’s own mental states and factors.
目次
The Passages on svasam: vedana in Digna¯ga’s Prama¯n: asamuccaya and -vr:tti 206 Proofs for the Two Appearances of Cognition and for Self-Awareness (PS(V)1.11-12) 208 Self-Awareness as the Result of the Means of Valid Cognition(prama¯n: aphala) in the Case of Sense-Perception (PS(V) 1.8cd-10) 216 Conclusions: Intentional Self-Awareness and Subjective Access 226
