PERCEPTION IN CLASSICAL INDIAN PHILOSOPHY: EXPLORING SENSUOUS AND NON-SENSUOUS KNOWLEDGE

Abstract

“Though Philosophy is a system of thought, the experience it organises must be both rich and comprehensive. The vision of the philosopher is the reaction of his whole personality to the nature of the experience world. It is a mistake to think that the only qualifications for elucidating truth in the sphere of philosophy are purely intellectual. Only those whose lives are deep and rich light on the really vital syntheses significant for mankind.” (1)(S. Radhakrishnan, 1929).

So a right method of knowledge is required to sense the world in the right way. Western world takes the help of perception and inferences as methods and deals Epistemology and Metaphysics separately. Indian Philosophy uses Epistemology and Metaphysics interdependently. There are six distinct methods of knowledge as per Classical Indian Text, perception being one of them, considered as immediate cognition, is chosen for the study because it has been agreed by all i.e. Western world and all the Indian School of Philosophy, with some differences i.e. sensuous only or sensuous and non-sensuous both. This research paper delves into the concept of Perception and its mechanism as per the Classical Indian Texts to understand the need of non-sensuous perception which makes the Indian Philosophy unique.