A brief and well written notes on Samkhya Philosophy
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Course
Asian Philosophy
Institution
Visayas State University
This is a short and well written notes from the lecture of Fr. Bryand Restituto. This tackles about the epistemology, liberation, atheism, etc. of the Samkhya Philosophy.
Lecture Notes on Asian Philosophy
Sacred Heart Seminary Philippines
Samkhya
Samkhya is of the six schools of Hindu philosophy. It is most related to the Yoga
school of Hinduism, and it was influential on other schools of Indian philosophy.
In the context of ancient Indian philosophies, Samkhya refers to the philosophical
school in Hinduism based on systematic enumeration and rational examination.
The Sage Kapila is traditionally credited as a founder of the Samkhya school.
However, it is unclear in which century of 1st millennium BCE Kapila lived.
Epistemology:
Samkhya only accepts three pramanas (proofs) as the only reliable means of gaining
knowledge:
Pratyakṣa or Dṛṣṭam (direct sense perception) - It is of two types in Hindu texts:
external and internal.
External perception - is described as that arising from the interaction of five senses
and worldly objects.
Internal Perception - is described by this school as that of inner sense, the mind.
FOUR REQUIREMENTS FOR CORRECT PERCEPTION:
Indriyarthasannikarsa - direct experience by one's sensory organ(s)with the object,
whatever is being studied
Avyapadesya - non-verbal; correct perception is not through hearsay.
Avyabhicara - does not wander; correct perception does not change, nor is it the
result of deception.
Vyavasayatmaka - definite; correct perception excludes judgments of doubt.
Anumāna (inference) - It is described as reaching a new conclusion and truth from
one or more observations and previous truths by applying reason.
The method of inference is explained by Indian texts as consisting of three parts;
pratijna (hypothesis), hetu (a reason), drshtanta (examples). The hypothesis must
further be broken down into two parts:
Sadhya - that idea which needs to proven or disproven.
Paksha - the object on which the sadhya is predicated.
Śabda or Āptavacana (verbal testimony of the sages or shāstras)- means relying on
word, testimony of past or present reliable experts. Human being needs to know
numerous facts, and with the limited time and energy available, he can learn only a
fraction of those facts and truths directly. He must cooperate with others to rapidly
acquire and share knowledge and thereby enrich each other's lives. This means of
gaining proper knowledge is either spoken or written, but through Sabda (words). The
reliability of the source is important, and legitimate knowledge can only come from
the Sabda of reliable sources.
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