This series is suitable for anyone interested in Yoga, Āyurveda, Indian Knowledge Systems, philosophy, or simply understanding how the mind forms conclusions, makes errors and arrives at valid knowledge.

No prior study of Nyāya or Indian philosophy is required.

How do the different systems of Indian philosophy understand reality, knowledge, the self and liberation? This opening session offers an accessible introduction to the six classical darśanas, before exploring where Nyāya sits within this wider tradition.

Participants will be introduced to Gautama, the Nyāya Sūtra, and the 16 padārthas that form the framework through which Nyāya examines knowledge, reasoning and the path to freedom.

Topics covered

• Meaning and scope of darśana
• The six Āstika darśanas: Sāṅkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Mīmāṃsā and Vedānta
• Shared questions around reality, knowledge, self, bondage and liberation
• The distinctive approaches of the six systems
• The place of Nyāya within the Indian philosophical tradition
• Gautama and the Nyāya Sūtra
• Introduction to the 16 padārthas of Nyāya

How do we know that something is true? Nyāya approaches this question through a careful study of the means by which valid knowledge arises.

This session introduces the four pramāṇas recognised by Nyāya: perception, inference, comparison and reliable testimony. It also looks at how valid knowledge differs from doubt, error and mistaken understanding.

Topics covered

• Pramā, pramāṇa and valid cognition
• The four Nyāya pramāṇas: Pratyakṣa, Anumāna, Upamāna and Śabda
• How perception, or pratyakṣa, gives rise to knowledge
• Anumāna and the importance of vyāpti
• Knowledge through comparison (upamāna) and reliable testimony (śabda)
• Valid knowledge, doubt and error
• The role of pramāṇa in arriving at true knowledge

How do we move from an observation to a sound conclusion? And how do we recognise when an argument only appears convincing?

This session explores the sophisticated approach to inference and reasoning developed within Nyāya. Participants will examine how an argument is constructed, how assumptions are tested, how faulty reasoning is recognised, and how different forms of debate can either clarify or obscure the truth.

Topics covered

• The structure and purpose of inference (anumāna)
• Pakṣa, sādhya, hetu and vyāpti: the elements of a valid inference
• The five-membered Nyāya syllogism
• Tarka and its role in testing reasoning
• Hetvābhāsa: recognising major forms of faulty reasoning
• Vāda, jalpa and vitaṇḍā: different approaches to debate
• Chala, jāti and nigrahasthāna: errors, objections and points of defeat in debate
• Applying Nyāya reasoning to contemporary critical thinking

For Nyāya, the search for valid knowledge ultimately leads to deeper questions: Who is the knower? What is the relationship between body, mind and self? Why do we suffer, and can knowledge help bring that suffering to an end?

In this concluding session, the inquiry moves from knowledge and reasoning to Ātman, the nature of reality, Īśvara, karma and liberation. It brings the four-part journey together by showing why clear knowledge matters within the larger aim of freedom from suffering.

Topics covered

• The 12 prameyas, or objects of valid knowledge
• The Nyāya understanding of Ātman (self)
• Body, senses, mind and cognition
• Nyāya realism and the existence of an external world
• Īśvara and Nyāya arguments for God
• Ignorance, doṣa, karma and duḥkha
• Apavarga: liberation as the ultimate goal
• From valid knowledge to freedom from suffering