Perception

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of Buddhist accounts of perceptual knowledge as articulated by Dignāga and Dharmakīrti. It identifies the key features of these two epistemologists’ accounts of perception and discusses the important ways in which these two thinkers’ accounts differ from one another. The second half of the chapter explores the question of how far the scope of perceptual knowledge can be extended and looks at the various subtypes of perception that are adopted by Buddhist epistemologists including reflexive perception, mental perception and yogic perception. The chapter concludes by exploring how perceptual cognitions differ from instances of illusion and hallucination.