Is Nyāya Realist or Idealist? Carrying on a Conversation Started by Daya Krishna

The late Professor Daya Krishna, then Editor of the Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research (JICPR) (New Delhi) initiated, in the “Notes and Queries” section of an issue of that journal, a debate whose starting point was the provocative question “Is Nyāya Realist or Idealist?” which, in respect to its contents, constituted a challenge to the traditional characterization of Nyāya philosophy as “realist,” and Krishna marshaled some very ingenious (if sometimes brief) arguments to show not only that the received characterization needed serious reconsideration but that there may well be grounds, hitherto unforeseen, for calling Nyāya, or some of its tenets, idealist. Inevitably, strong but reasoned responses by noted scholars rejecting Krishna’s proposal followed and occupied number after number of the pages of that journal. Some of the responses were not only attempts to address the issues raised by Daya Krishna, but were in the nature of comments on other authors’ points of view expressed in response to his original query. While, in the main, these responses, as against Daya Krishna’s onslaught, sought to defend Nyāya’s realistic character, they did so on different grounds in many cases. Here, it is intended to summarize and present for the reader’s perusal some of these responses and rejoinders apart from reproducing at the outset, and in toto, the original query of Daya Krishna.