| Kate Robson |

 

This Week

Sunday 6th February 2022

Hi everyone,

Hope you had a great week. Here's the run down of mine!

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GAMSAT Section 2

Research Recommendation:

Epistemology:

Pramana

I thought we'd venture East for the subject of this newsletter (which is rather Western-washed in its focuses, I'll admit) and look at epistemology within Indian schools of philosophy. 

In Indian philosophies, such as the Hindu Nyaya and Carvaka schools, and the Jain and buddhist philosophical schools, Pramana (Sanskrit: प्रमाण, Pramāṇa) literally means "proof" and "means of knowledge" and describes the valid or reliable means by which humans can acquire accurate, true, and correct knowledge.

The number of pramanas differs between systems, but many ancient and medieval Indian texts identify six pramanas as correct means of accurate knowledge and to truths: 

(1) perception (Sanskrit pratyakṣa)

(2) inference (anumāna)

(3) "word", meaning the testimony of past or present reliable experts (Śabda)

(4) comparison and analogy (upamāna)

(5) postulation derivation from circumstances (arthāpatti)

(6) non-perception, negative/cognitive proof (anupalabdhi)

Each of these are further categorised in terms of conditionality, completeness, confidence and possibility of error, by each school of Indian philosophies, which is a lot to go into in this newsletter, but if you'd like to read more about each of them, you can do so here.

The various schools of Indian philosophies vary on how many of these six are epistemically reliable and valid means to knowledge. For example, the Carvaka school of the Śramaṇa tradition holds that only one (perception) is a reliable source of knowledge, Buddhism holds two (perception, inference) are valid means, Jainism holds three (perception, inference and testimony), while Mimamsa and Advaita Vedanta schools of Hinduism hold all six are useful and can be reliable means to knowledge. What do you think?

When writing epistemologically or about the philosophy behind where your knowledge comes from, consider adopting an Eastern lens as well. Western epistemology is well-documented, studied, and written about in GAMSAT essays, so it might be refreshing to show off some knowledge of Eastern philosophy if you're up for it!

Start here:

Epistemology in Classical Indian Philosophy

Commonalities in the classical Indian approaches to knowledge and justification frame the arguments and refined positions of the major schools. Central is a focus on occurrent knowledge coupled with a theory of "mental dispositions" called saṃskāra.

Epistemology (Pramāṇas)

In classical Hindu philosophy and classical Indian thought more generally, questions of epistemology, rationality, and public debate were typically framed in terms of pramāṇas, "means of knowing." The term pramāṇa is sometimes used to refer to cognition itself, especially by Buddhist interlocutors, but more commonly pramāṇa refers to processes or causes of veridical cognition such as perception, inference, and testimony.

Pramana-varttika | Buddhist work

Pramana-varttika, (Sanskrit: "Commentary on Valid Knowledge") perhaps the foremost work on Buddhist logic and epistemology, written in the 7th century. The Pramana-varttika is the chief work of Dharmakirti, originally a southern Indian Brahman. The Pramana-varttika is written in about 2,000 stanzas

My random recommendation for the week:

Restaurant

Cicerone Cucina Romana

Surry Hills, Sydney

Last night, some friends and I visited this gorgeous little Italian restaurant near Oxford Street in Sydney before heading out to a party.

I might have (definitely) spent a little too much on all the food I filled my belly with, but it was well worth it.

This rigatoni melted in my mouth and paired delightfully with the gianduja & pistachio gelato for dessert that made me feel drunk on decadence (it might have also been the prosecco we had).

A great spot if you're into classic Italian deliciousness like me!

This week's video(s):

A moment of joy I had this week:

Mum's 60th!
My mum turns 60 tomorrow and she's off and away in Tassie celebrating on a big 7-day hike! Although we won't be together on her actual bday, the other night we had dinner at the pub (the standard for my family) and I felt very grateful for my mum.

She's had a tough couple of years in the pandemic working in the travel industry, but she has come out of it with a positive attitude and a smile on her face. She is the strongest, most inspiring woman I know, and I hope everyday I can do her proud and follow in her footsteps. If I can be as dazzling as Dana when I'm 60, I'll be pretty happy.

Happy birthday, mum. I love you <3

Hope you guys have a wonderful week and see you next Sunday.

Kate :)

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