Given below are two statements:
Statement I: According to Nyāya philosophy, the middle term (hetu or linga) must be found in the minor term (pakṣa) in a case of inference.
Statement II: According to Nyāya philosophy the middle term should not be found anywhere where Sādhya or major term is not found.
In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:
Both Statement I and Statement II are correct
In Nyāya epistemology, a valid inference (anumāna) depends on the relation of vyāpti (invariable concomitance) holding between the middle term (hetu, also called liṅga) and the major term (sādhya).
Statement I describes what Nyāya calls pakṣadharmatā: the hetu must actually be present in the pakṣa, the minor term or the subject about which the inference is being drawn. For example, in the classic inference 'the hill has fire because it has smoke', smoke (the hetu) must actually be observed in the hill (the pakṣa) for the inference to be valid. This is a genuine and essential requirement of Nyāya logic, so Statement I is correct.
Statement II describes vyatireka vyāpti, the negative or exclusionary aspect of vyāpti: the hetu must never be found in any locus where the sādhya (major term) is absent. In the fire-smoke example, wherever there is no fire (e.g., a lake), there must also be no smoke. If the hetu were found even once where the sādhya is absent, the hetu would be vyabhicāri (irregular/fallacious) and the inference would break down. This too is a standard, textbook condition of vyāpti in Nyāya, so Statement II is correct.
Since both statements correctly state established conditions of Nyāya's theory of vyāpti and inference, both Statement I and Statement II are correct.
Similar Questions
In which of the following arguments the middle term is always positively related to the major term only, there being no negative instances of their agreement in absence?
Inference (anumana) in Indian Logic is rooted in:
Consider the example of anumāna given below :
(a) The mountain is fiery
(b) Because it has smoke
(c) Wherever there is smoke, there is fire.
Which one of the following expresses Vyāpti (relation of invariable concomitance?
Important Questions from Vyapti (Invariable Relation)
- Vyapti in Indian Logic refers to :
In which of the following arguments the middle term is always positively related to the major term only, there being no negative instances of their agreement in absence?
Inference (anumana) in Indian Logic is rooted in:
Consider the example of anumāna given below :
(a) The mountain is fiery
(b) Because it has smoke
(c) Wherever there is smoke, there is fire.
Which one of the following expresses Vyāpti (relation of invariable concomitance?
