Download or read book Classical Indian Metaphysics: Refutations of Realism and the Emergence of New Logic written by Stephen H. Phillips and published by Motilal Banarsidass. This book was released on 1998-01-01 with total page 406 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Our knowledge of the most ancient times in India rests mainly on tradition. The Puranas, the Mahabharata, and in a minor degree of Ramayana profess to give accounts from tradition about the earliest occurrences. The Rgveda contains historical allusions, of which some record contemporary persons and events, but more refer to bygone times and persons and are obviously based on tradition. Almost all the information, therefore, comes from tradition. The results obtained from an examination of Puranic and epic tradition as well as of the Rgveda and Vedic literature are set forth in the present book, which happens to be a pioneering work in the area by an important orientalist of the nineteenth century.