The question of knowledge brings in its train a host of other contentious issues. What is nature of knowledge? How is it acquired? How do we judge the validity to knowledge? These are questions which have evoked multiple response from the people concerned.

Among the six schools of thought, the Nyaya philosophy is very much capable to address the above mentioned questions. Nyaya as a science lays down the rules and methods that are essentially necessary for a clear and precise understanding of all the materials of our knowledge. Almost all the Indian philosophies have been greatly influenced by logical and dialectical technicalities of Nyaya epistemology, which indicated its supremacy in the field of epistemology. As a thorough going realistic view of the universe, Nyaya supplies an important Eastern parallel to the triumphant modern realism of the West and contains the anticipations as well as possible alternatives of many contemporaries’ realistic theories.

The book provides a detailed account of Nyaya philosophy from the perspective of Naiyayika way of knowing and highlights its scope and interface with education. In short what follows is a detailed resume of the epistemological mapping of broadways of Naiyayika assumptions, a reflective response to the conceptual contours and the educational import of Nyaya epistemology.

Content - Foreword vii Preface xi Abbreviations xv Scheme of Transliteration xvi 1. Introduction: Purpose and Perspective 1 Why to Read the Following Pages 8 2. Development of Epistemology 11 A. Western Epistemology: Thinkers and Theories 12 B. Indian Epistemology: An Overview 41 3. Nyaya Philosophy: Its Epistemological Assumptions 70 A. Nature of Knowledge 79 B. Methods of Knowledge 106 Ordinary Perception and its Objects 119 Inference (Anumana) 136 What if Upamana? 156 Verbal Testimony (Sabda) 162, 4. Nyaya Epistemology and Education 176 A. Zeroing in on Education 184 B. Pedagogy: A Paradigm Shift 186 5. Some Contentions 191 Bibliography 200 Index 205