Nyaya

Nyaya is an orthodox school of Hindu philosophy focused on systematic logic, epistemology, and rigorous argumentation to attain valid knowledge and liberation.

Founded by Sage Gautama in the Nyaya Sutras (c. 2nd century BCE), it emphasizes four main sources of knowledge: perception (pratyaksha), inference (anumana), comparison (upamana), and testimony (shabda).

Core Components of Nyaya Logic

Five-Step Syllogism (Avayava): Nyaya uses a five step structure for valid inference:

• Proposition (Pratijña): The hill has fire (thesis).
• Reason (Hetu): Because it has smoke (cause).
• Example (Udāharaṇa): Wherever there is smoke, there is fire, like in a kitchen (universal concomitance).
• Application (Upanaya): The hill has smoke that is invariably associated with fire (application).
• Conclusion (Nigamana): Therefore, the hill has fire (proven proposition).

Epistemology (Pramāna-sāstra): Nyaya aims for pramā (valid knowledge) and is designed to eliminate apramā (invalid knowledge like error or doubt).

Navya-Nyaya (Neo-Nyaya): A later, highly technical development (starting ~13th century) that refined language to eliminate ambiguity in logic and metaphysics.

Nyaya is known for its "critical realism," holding that the world exists independently of our awareness of it, and that rigorous logic is the method for discovering that reality.