Orthodox Schools views of Knowledge
Heterodox Schools views of Knowledge
Education as a Discipline
Gandhiji's concept of Education
In Indian
philosophy valid knowledge is called Prama and the source of valid knowledge is
called Pramana. The different schools of philosophy recognise different
Pramanas. The Charvaka school recognizes only one source of knowledge, i.e.
perception. The Buddhist schools recognizes two sources i.e. perception and
inference; whereas, the Samkhya school recognizes three sources i.e.
perception, inference and vertical testimony. However, the Nyaya school
recognizes four i.e. perception, inference, verbal testimony and analogy
(comparison). Then, we have Prabhakara school of Mimamsa which recognizes five
sources- perception added to the above four. The Bhatt school of Mimamsa adds
non-apprehension to the above five. The Pouranika school recognizes inclusion
and traditional hearsay along with the above mentioned six sources. However,
inclusion and traditional hearsay are discarded by the leading exponents of
Indian philosophy.
1) Perception (Pratyaksa): According to Gautam Muni,
Perception is valid form of knowledge which arises by contact of sense organs
with an object. However, according to modern school of Nyaya, perception is
characterized by immediacy. It is direct and not derived through medium of some
other knowledge. For eg: In case of a researcher, perceptions are important to
collect and verify the authority of acquired information.
2) Inference (Anumana): Inference is a specific form of knowledge which
follows perception, i.e., the process of using observation and background
knowledge to determine a conclusion that makes sense. For eg: A small child
looks at an apple and gets the knowledge of appearance of apple. Next time,
whenever, he sees any red-coloured round shaped fruit, his previous knowledge
directs him to infer that as an apple.
3) Verbal testimony (Sabda): It is the source where knowledge is
derived from words or sentences. The process involves first perception of
words, then understanding the meaning of words. The knowledge of words leads to
knowledge of objects through the function of recalling the meaning of words.
Eg: Vedas are considered to be the most authentic source of knowledge by Indian
philosophers.
4) Analogy (Upamana): It is that valid source of
knowledge which is acquired by the perception of similarity between two
different objects. It is based on comparison. Such knowledge is acquired when
there is prior familiarity with a particular thing which lets the individual
compare both the things with known familiarity. For eg: We tell an urban
dweller that ‘naga sadhu’ looks like a ‘sadhu’. Later when he encounters the
same in the ‘Kumbha mela’ he quickly recognizes that as ‘naga sadhu’. Here, his
knowledge is the outcome of conjunction with the knowledge of sadhu.
5) Presumption ( Arthapatti): Presumption is the knowledge gained
through seeing the relation between the cause and effect. Here, we proceed from
knowledge of something to be explained to the knowledge of that which explains
it. That is, presumption is the knowledge of inner contradiction and the result
is the reconciliation of the contradiction. For eg: If a small child does not
sleep at night and still is healthy, we presume that the child must be sleeping
during the daytime.
6) Non-apprehension (Anupalabdhi): Non-apprehension is the representative
knowledge of negative facts. That is, it is based on the apprehension of
non-existent thing based on non-perception. For eg: The person had cardiac
arrest due to fear and anxiety.
Hence, the
above discussion clarifies that Pramana is a valid source of knowledge.
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