Epistemology: Knowledge, Sources and Truth
Epistemology studies knowledge, belief, justification and truth. The HSC paper tests pramanas (sources of knowledge), the conditions for knowledge and truth tests.
Core rules and concepts
- Western analysis: knowledge is justified true belief, with Gettier cases challenging sufficiency.
- Indian pramanas: pratyaksha (perception), anumana (inference), shabda (testimony), upamana (comparison), arthapatti (postulation), anupalabdhi (non-apprehension).
- Nyaya accepts four pramanas; Mimamsa adds arthapatti and anupalabdhi; Charvaka accepts only perception; Buddhism accepts perception and inference.
- Truth theories: correspondence (belief matches fact), coherence (fits a system), pragmatism (works in practice).
- Svatah-pramanya says validity is intrinsic; paratah-pramanya says validity needs external confirmation.
Worked example
You see smoke on a hill and infer fire. Perception gives smoke; inference uses vyapti, the universal relation 'wherever smoke, there fire'. The conclusion is probable, not infallible, because the vyapti may be faulty, as with mist. Test truth by correspondence: is there actually fire? Test justification by asking whether the inferential chain is sound.
Traps
Do not treat testimony as blind belief; shabda requires a reliable speaker. Do not confuse upamana with mere analogy in an essay. Do not claim perception is always theory-free. Do not answer 'truth is opinion' without explaining a criterion.