ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 continues to explore the notion of non-objectification of cognitions by presenting some precursors of the Pratyabhijñā’s treatment of the question. In particular, it is concerned with the work of a Buddhist thinker, Śāntarakṣita (eighth c. CE), and more thoroughly, with that of Bhartṛhari, arguably one of the first Indian thinkers to advance this idea. Both these philosophers stress that consciousness has a phenomenal aspect that cannot be reduced to its other main feature, that of having intentionality, that is to say, that of ‘being about something’.
