Friday, October 11, 2019

Analogy-issues

"Humans are the only species to drink the milk of another species beyond infancy."
"Humans do other things that other species can't do. So, it is ok".

What can we learn from this?

The UpamAna PramAnam (Analogy) is the 4th way of acquiring knowledge.

Carvaka (atheism), Vaiseshika (study of material world), Samkya/Yoga (remove the material to realize the non-material divine) don't accept analogies as a valid way of acquiring knowledge.

Analogies, by definition, are never a perfect match. A non-truth seeking debater (Jalpa or Vithanda VAdham) can always find imperfections in an analogy based argument. If you're using analogies in social media, this would be the common nature of the counter.

For a truth-seeker debate (Sam VAtham), analogies are valid. NyAya, (Purva) MimAmsa & VedAnta/Uttara MimAmsa all accept analogies as a valid way of acquiring knowledge.

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