Like most of the class, I found this week's topic and readings to be confusing. However, I found one particular part of the lecture and powerpoint on Tuesday interesting. The idea of ontoogy caught my attention. The Vaisesika and also the Nyaya are both based on ontology, which is the study of what exists. Not only had I never heard of the term, but the concept itself and how the Vaisesika perceived it was intriguing.
Ontology is defined as the study of what exists, or what is essentially real. Vaisesika ontology is described using seven categories called padartha which are basically the real things that exist the in the world. The seven padarthas are substance, quality, action, universal, individuator, inherence, and absence. Qualities, actions, universals, and indivudators are all related through the "inherence." The concept that absence is real is the most confusing. The metaphor that I remember was used in class time was that the absence of an elephant in the middle of the classroom is real.
However, I was doubtful about whether everything in the world that exists can be really categorized into those seven padarthas,
It helps to remember that the padārthas are types of real things, and there are many different subtypes to each one. So, for example, there are lots of different qualities: blue, green, salty, near, heavy, sad, happy, etc....
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