Paksata: The Nature of Inferential Locus
A Psycho-Epistemological Investigation of the Inferential Process

By N.S. Dravid
May 2007
Indian Council of Philsophical Research / Munshiram
Distributed By Coronet Books
ISBN: 8185636990
174 pages, 5 7/8 x 8 7/8"
$32.50 Hardcover

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The topic of Paksata is a unique contribution of neo-Indian logicians to a psycho-epistemological analysis of the nature of the minor term in inference. Giving a technical twist to the commonly-accepted meaning of the term, Raghunatha Siromani, the greatest Indian logician, has construed this meaning in terms of the definition of what may broadly be called a psychological condition of inference.

The simple commonsensical fact that a non-inferentially known fact can be sought to be known even inferentially if it is so desired, is the basis of the definition. Various combinations of inferential desires and non-inferential cognitions resulting in or preventing the relevant inferences are considered in the discussion of the definition to arrive at a perfect fit of these factors in the definition. Many important issues connected with causality which bear upon the subject are also considered in the course of the discussion.

Philosophy

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