The focus of the project on the theory of debate in the context of Indian medical history was the intellectual- historical study of the early theory of debate in India as it is found in the oldest preserved medical compendium of India, the Carakasamhita (ca. first to second century). In India, reflections on the method of debate, especially on the adequate proof of a thesis, on its structure and components in the widest sense, and on its rules are closely connected with the development of philosophical dialectics and logic; furthermore, the consideration of the knowledge sources which may be used in the context of debate provides a link to the development of epistemology. The extensive exposition on debate in the third chapter of the Carakasamhita, combined with expositions in other early sources, constitutes a valuable testimony towards the detailed historical study of these relationships. Until now the bulky Sanskrit text of the Carakasamhita, even though published in many editions, was only available in an uncritical edition, and there were good reasons to suspect that the editors had tampered with the original text. Thus, up to date eighty-five manuscripts of the Carakasamhita whose originals are preserved in various collections in India and Europe - among them many complete ones, but also some that contain other
chapters of the work which are of relevance for the study of the history of Indian philosophy - were made available in various form in the context of the project; research conducted in India resulted also in the acquisition of copies of manuscripts that were hitherto completely unknown. The thirty-four manuscripts of this unique collection which are directly relevant to the project are written in a variety of Indian scripts; to do justice to their importance they were described in detail, with the additional aim to make a contribution towards the knowledge of scribal traditions in India over the last three hundred years. At the same time, the variant readings of the manuscripts were collected for the relevant text portion. On this basis, a hypothesis about the historical relationship between the manuscripts could be worked out that points towards a twofold transmission of the text. These two broad lines of transmission are also reflected in the complicated history of the publication of the Carakasamhita which could be clarified for the first time in the context of the project. The collection of the variant readings, which corroborated the suspicion of textual manipulation by the editors, made it possible to make first steps towards the establishment of a new critical and reliable text. Also, individual studies on dialectical and logical topics, such as the role of objections voiced by the opponent in debate for the determination of the logical connection between the proof and what is to be proofed, as well as the role of the example, could be conducted in comparison with other early sources.
