Presumption or Arthapatti - All Indian philosophical traditions are concerned with codifying the pramanas, or methods by which humans may acquire genuine and correct knowledge.
Almost all schools regard perception (pratyaksha), inference (anumana), and authoritative testimony (shabda) to be pramanas; the Purva Mimamsa school, one of the six ancient Hindu philosophical systems, added two more: abhava (“knowledge from absence”) and arthapatti.
Arthapatti is a kind of inference based on circumstance in which a decision is reached regarding one instance purely on the basis of parallels to other situations.
- When a passenger is believed to have arrived at her destination after the train's scheduled arrival time has past, for example.
- This is not a valid conclusion, according to Indian philosophy, since a judgment must always be verified by direct perception, in this instance, that the train had arrived at its destination.
The Purva Mimamsas defended the creation of this new pramana by claiming that this knowledge could not be explained by any of the other pramanas, necessitating the creation of this new one.
The other institutions were hesitant to adopt it because of its presumptuous character, which might lead to mistakes.
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