Nyaya

Also known as Nyâya

Nyāya (Sanskrit: न्यायः, IAST: nyāyaḥ), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment", is one of the six orthodox (Āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Nyāya's most significant contributions to Indian philosophy were the systematic development of the theory of logic, methodology, and its treatises on epistemology.

~43 min read

Article

43 sections

Contents

Etymology
Development
Foundational Text
Commentarial Tradition
Textual sources
Metaphysics
Sixteen categories (''padārthas'')
The self
Theory of causation
Epistemology
''Pratyaksha'' (perception)
Determinate and indeterminate perception
''Anumāna'' (inference)
Theory of inference
Inference Fallacies (''hetvābhasa'')
''Upamāna'' (comparison, analogy)
''Śabda'' (word, testimony)
Direct Realism
Comparison with other schools of Hinduism
''Anyathākhyātivāda'' or ''Viparītakhyātivāda'' (Theory of Error)
On God and liberation
Arguments that God does not exist
Arguments that God exists
Liberation
Nyāya Influence on Buddhism
Nyāya and Buddhist Epistemology
Nyāya and Buddhist Logic
Nyāya and Buddhist Debate Practices
Nyāya's Criticism of Buddhist Principles
Nyāya Influence in Later Buddhist Traditions
B.K. Matilal's Contributions to the Study of Nyāya and Buddhism
Table of Nyāya Influence on Buddhist Thought
Further Developments and Synthesis
Commentaries on the Nyaya-Sutra
Differences from Western Philosophy
''A priori'' knowledge
Logic
Knowledge First Epistemology
See also
References
Further reading
Navya-Nyaya school
External links

Nyāya epistemology accepts four out of six pramanas as reliable means of gaining knowledge – pratyakṣa (perception), anumāṇa (inference), upamāna (comparison and analogy) and śabda (word, testimony of past or present reliable experts). In its metaphysics, Nyāya school is closer to the Vaisheshika school of Hinduism than others. It holds that human suffering results from mistakes/defects produced by activity under wrong knowledge (notions and ignorance). Moksha (liberation), it states, is gained through right knowledge. This premise led Nyāya to concern itself with epistemology, that is the reliable means to gain correct knowledge and to remove wrong notions. False knowledge is not merely ignorance to Naiyyayikas, it includes delusion. Correct knowledge is discovering and overcoming one's delusions, and understanding true nature of soul, self and reality.