The Tibetan tradition of epistemology and logic (tshad ma) evolved within the framework of the commentarial tradition based primarily on the works of the Indian scholar Dharmakīrti (mid-6th–mid-7th c.). It soon developed into an indigenous system with its own specific terminology and formal features. Research in this domain is addressing the epistemological systems upheld by individual authors – in particular famous figures of the early tradition such as rNgog Blo ldan shes rab (1059–1109) and Phya pa Chos kyi seng ge (1109–1169) – as well as specific topics. It examines both theoretical (prescriptive) rules of logical reasoning articulated in epistemological works and the argumentative methods adopted by scholars involved in philosophical discourse and disputation in the Tibetan context. A special focus of this investigation is argumentation by way of consequences (Tib. thal ’gyur/thal ba, Skt. prasaṅga), which is a key element in the logical system of Madhyamaka thinkers.
Selected publications
- Hugon, Pascale, ‘Thunderbolt Blaze’ or ‘Armless Hero’? – On the Authorship of the Essence of Debate. In: Kurtis R. Schaeffer, Jue Liang, and William A. McGrath, (eds.), Histories of Tibet: Essays in Honor of Leonard W. J. van der Kuijp. New York, NY, 2023: Wisdom Publications, pp. 339–354. PDF.
- Hugon, Pascale, Tibetan Epistemology and Philosophy of Language. In: Edward N. Zalta (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2020 Edition), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2020/entries/epistemology-language-tibetan/. [Substantive revision of the 2015 entry]
- Hugon, Pascale, and Jonathan Stoltz, The Roar of a Tibetan Lion: Phya pa Chos kyi seng ge's Theory of Mind in Philosophical and Historical Perspective. (BKGA 97). Wien: VÖAW, 2019 (order online or download [open access]).
- Hugon, Pascale, Argumentation Theory in the Early Tibetan Epistemological Tradition. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 34.1‒2 (2011)[2012] 97‒148. PDF.