An Examination into the View of Perception (pratyaksa) According the Nyaya School of Philosophy.

Perception as a pramana or method of knowledge has not been discussed at length in Western logic. In so far as it has been discussed, it has created a divide amongst the realists, the idealists and the empiricists. Many schools of Indian philosophy have taken up a critical examination of perception as a means of gaining valid knowledge. The Nyaya is one of them.

According to the Nyaya school of philosophy, valid knowledge or prama can be gained through four different means namely; perception (Pratyaksa), inference (Anumana), verbal testimony (Sabda) and comparison (Upmana). Of these, the Naiyayika considers perception to be fundamental. This is true in the sense that although perception may not be the only method of knowledge, it forms a basis for other sources of knowledge like inference, comparison and testimony. In so far as the objects of knowledge are concerned though, the methods or ways of knowing them stand on the same footing, as there are some objects that can be known through all four methods of knowledge while there are others that can be known only through one source of knowledge. For example, we may know about there being fire on the mountain through inference, as well as perception. On the other hand, there are certain objects of knowledge