Generative knowledge: a pragmatist logic of inquiry articulated by the classical Indian philosopher Bha??a Kumarila

This thesis investigates the svata?-prama?yam doctrine of the 7th century Indian philosopher Bha??a Kumarila, based on an analysis of this doctrine as presented in the B?ha?-?ika and in the Sloka-varttika. The original contribution of this thesis consists in a novel interpretation of Kumarila's claim which diverges from the interpretations of the classical Indian commentators as well as those of recent scholarship by John Taber and Dan Arnold. Rather than a phenomenological or Reidean epistemology, this research argues that Kumarila provides a normative epistemology. In contrast to the interpretation of Dan Arnold, which roots justification and truth in the phenomenological fact of mere awareness which is undefeated, it is argued here that Kumarila articulates a normative process which mandates the believer to strengthen her beliefs through a purposive and goal-oriented process. The thesis begins with a consideration of the notion of svabhava, to which Kumarila appeals, making a dispositional essentialist reading of this term, as a real causal power or disposition which is the essence of an entity conditional on its existence. It is then argued that Kumarila's claim concerns the manifestation of a competence. The operational dichotomy between prama?a and non-prama?a is compared to that between Good and Bad Cases in epistemological disjunctivism. It is shown that Kumarila articulates a belief protocol by analogy with normative processes in generative grammar and in legal and ritual interpretation. An antifoundationalist defence of this protocol and its applicability to the case of beliefs formed from Vedic testimony is provided. It is suggested that Kumarila's claim engages more closely with Sosa's notion of aptness than with any notion of justification.