The Word as Knowledge: Śabda-Pramāṇa in Indian Epistemology
In Sanskrit traditions like Nyaya, words (sabda) are valid testimony—explore how verbal authority rivals perception in epistemology and debate.
Steps
- 1
- Reading· ~11 min
Nyāya on Śabda: Reliability, Trustworthiness, and the Conditions of Valid Testimony
How the Nyāya school analyzed verbal testimony as knowledge from a reliable person, and where it can fail.
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- Reading· ~10 min
Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta: When Testimony Is Self-Certifying
The radical Mīmāṃsā thesis that the Vedas do not need a reliable author to be valid, and what this means for epistemology.
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- Text Explore· ~8 min
Nyāya and Mīmāṃsā on Testimony
Explore the key distinctions between the Nyāya and Mīmāṃsā accounts of valid verbal knowledge.
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- Argument Map· ~10 min
Is Testimony an Independent Pramāṇa?
Map the debate between those who reduce testimony to perception/inference and those who grant it independent status.
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- Dialogue· ~10 min
Dialogue: Can Scripture Be Self-Certifying?
Challenge the Mīmāṃsā claim that Vedic testimony is intrinsically valid without an author.
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- Reflection· ~8 min
Reflection: Who Do You Trust and Why?
Apply the pramāṇa framework to your own epistemic practices.
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