Main Categories of the Indian Philosophical School Nyāya

Abstract

The paper defines the three categories (together with their respective sub-themes) of the classical Hindu school of philosophy (darśana) nyāya, namely the instruments of valid knowledge (pramāṇa), factors of inference (avayava), and hypothetical reasoning (tarka), as they are defined in the Nyāya-sūtra and explained by Vātsyāyana in his work Nyāya-bhāṣya. By this, it highlights the main epistemological and logical concepts of the school in the early stage of its development. The starting point is the definition of a correct discussion (vāda) as defined by the Nyāya-sūtra that determines four instruments of valid knowledge, five factors of inference, and hypothetical reasoning as components of a valid debate and argumentation. The paper points to the empirical basis of the epistemology and logic of nyāya that stems from perception and requires the use of examples.