Arthapatti
Arthāpatti (IAST)Translation: "postulation / presumption"
A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy
Sanskrit: अर्थापत्ति
Transliteration: Arthāpatti
Translation: "postulation; presumption"
Definition:
- Postulation is a valid source of knowledge (Pramāṇa) for the Mīmāmsā schools and for Advaita Vedānta. It is the postulation of what explains through the knowledge of what is to be explained. It is the process of knowledge which makes something intelligible by assuming something else.
- It is of two kinds: postulation from what is heard (Śruta-Arthāpatti) and postulation from what is seen (Dṛṣṭa-Arthāpatti).
- The Prābhākara school says that it involves an element of doubt and postulation's job is to remove that doubt. The Bhāṭṭa school says that it involves a conflict between two well-known facts. Advaita Vedānta says that there is neither a doubt nor a conflict, but merely an inexplicable fact which needs explaining. Presumption is the framing of an explanatory hypothesis on the basis of the knowledge of the fact to be explained, posits Advaita.
Reference:
- Grimes, John (1996). A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: State University of New York Press
