pramāṇa theory
E249623
Pramāṇa theory is a central epistemological framework in Indian philosophy that analyzes and classifies the valid means of acquiring knowledge, such as perception, inference, and testimony.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Classical Mīmāṃsā often accepts perception, inference, comparison, testimony, postulation, non-cognition | 1 |
| pramāṇa theory canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2280860 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: pramāṇa theory Context triple: [Indian philosophy, hasConcept, pramāṇa theory]
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A.
General Investigations on the Analysis of Notions and Truths
General Investigations on the Analysis of Notions and Truths is a philosophical work by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz that explores the logical structure of concepts and the nature of necessary truths.
-
B.
The Foundations of Empirical Knowledge
The Foundations of Empirical Knowledge is a 1940 philosophical work by A. J. Ayer that defends logical empiricism by critically examining sense-data theories and the justification of empirical beliefs.
-
C.
The Logic of Practice
The Logic of Practice is a major sociological work by Pierre Bourdieu that develops his influential theories of habitus, field, and symbolic power to explain how social practices are structured and reproduced.
-
D.
A Treatise on Probability
A Treatise on Probability is John Maynard Keynes’s influential 1921 work that develops a logical and philosophical theory of probability, challenging classical and frequency-based interpretations.
-
E.
The Criterion between truth and falsehood
"The Criterion between truth and falsehood" is the English rendering of the title of Surah Al-Furqan, a chapter of the Qur’an that emphasizes the distinction between guidance and misguidance through divine revelation.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: pramāṇa theory Target entity description: Pramāṇa theory is a central epistemological framework in Indian philosophy that analyzes and classifies the valid means of acquiring knowledge, such as perception, inference, and testimony.
-
A.
General Investigations on the Analysis of Notions and Truths
General Investigations on the Analysis of Notions and Truths is a philosophical work by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz that explores the logical structure of concepts and the nature of necessary truths.
-
B.
The Foundations of Empirical Knowledge
The Foundations of Empirical Knowledge is a 1940 philosophical work by A. J. Ayer that defends logical empiricism by critically examining sense-data theories and the justification of empirical beliefs.
-
C.
The Logic of Practice
The Logic of Practice is a major sociological work by Pierre Bourdieu that develops his influential theories of habitus, field, and symbolic power to explain how social practices are structured and reproduced.
-
D.
A Treatise on Probability
A Treatise on Probability is John Maynard Keynes’s influential 1921 work that develops a logical and philosophical theory of probability, challenging classical and frequency-based interpretations.
-
E.
The Criterion between truth and falsehood
"The Criterion between truth and falsehood" is the English rendering of the title of Surah Al-Furqan, a chapter of the Qur’an that emphasizes the distinction between guidance and misguidance through divine revelation.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (49)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
concept in Indian philosophy
ⓘ
epistemological theory ⓘ theory of knowledge ⓘ |
| acceptedPramāṇasBySchool |
pramāṇa theory
self-linksurface differs
ⓘ
surface form:
Classical Mīmāṃsā often accepts perception, inference, comparison, testimony, postulation, non-cognition
Many Buddhist schools accept perception and inference ⓘ Nyaya ⓘ
surface form:
Nyāya accepts perception, inference, comparison, testimony
|
| addresses |
criteria of validity for cognition
ⓘ
scope and limits of knowledge ⓘ sources of knowledge ⓘ |
| aimsAt | distinguishing valid from invalid cognition ⓘ |
| analyzes | means of valid knowledge ⓘ |
| centralQuestion |
How is true cognition distinguished from error?
ⓘ
What counts as a valid means of knowledge? ⓘ |
| contrastsWith | mere opinion (mati) in some systems ⓘ |
| debatedIssue |
self-validity versus external validation of knowledge (svataḥ-prāmāṇya vs parataḥ-prāmāṇya)
ⓘ
status of testimony as independent pramāṇa ⓘ whether non-cognition is a distinct pramāṇa ⓘ |
| field | epistemology ⓘ |
| focusesOn | valid cognition ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod | developed in classical Indian philosophical period ⓘ |
| includesConcept |
comparison or analogy (upamāna)
ⓘ
inference (anumāna) ⓘ non-cognition or absence (anupalabdhi) ⓘ perception (pratyakṣa) ⓘ postulation or presumption (arthāpatti) ⓘ verbal testimony (śabda) ⓘ |
| influences |
debate practices (vāda) in classical India
ⓘ
hermeneutics in Indian traditions ⓘ logic in Indian philosophy ⓘ |
| languageOfFormulation | Sanskrit ⓘ |
| presupposes | distinction between appearance and reality ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
doṣa (defect) in cognition
ⓘ
prameya (object of knowledge) ⓘ pramā (valid cognition) ⓘ pramātṛ (knower) ⓘ saṃśaya (doubt) ⓘ tarka (reasoning) ⓘ |
| studiedInSchool |
Advaita Vedanta
ⓘ
surface form:
Advaita Vedānta school
Buddhist logic ⓘ
surface form:
Buddhist philosophy
Jain philosophy ⓘ Mīmāṃsā school ⓘ Nyaya school ⓘ
surface form:
Nyāya school
Vaisheshika ⓘ
surface form:
Vaiśeṣika school
|
| tradition | Indian philosophy ⓘ |
| usedFor |
evaluating inferential arguments
ⓘ
evaluating perceptual reports ⓘ evaluating scriptural authority ⓘ resolving doctrinal disputes ⓘ |
| variesBySchool | number of accepted pramāṇas ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: pramāṇa theory Description of subject: Pramāṇa theory is a central epistemological framework in Indian philosophy that analyzes and classifies the valid means of acquiring knowledge, such as perception, inference, and testimony.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
this entity surface form:
Classical Mīmāṃsā often accepts perception, inference, comparison, testimony, postulation, non-cognition