Subtle Mechanism of Anumānapramāṇa as depicted in Nyāya Philosophy

Abstract

Anumāna is one of the many pramāṇas employed in the orthodox and unorthodox philosophies in order to establish the concepts propagated by them. It is a natural tendency of the human mind to be verifying perceived facts with logic in order to bring out unperceived reasoning from it. While the other philosophies used it as a philosophical tool Nyāya explained the minute details of its mechanism. This step by step working analysis of the anumāna analogy is not just a philosophical but a psychological endeavour as well. The intricate detailings and sub concepts of like – upādhi, hetvābhāsa, etc. make it even more important and technically inclined. Anumāna can rightly be called the most integral aspect of Nyāya philosophy due to these intricacies.

Keywords

• – anumāna
• nyāya
• pramāṇa
• philosophy
• hetu
• sādhya