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94
NYAYA THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE
special efficacy in the conditions of knowledge (k膩ra峁嘺gu峁嘺).
There is no such thing as a special potency of the causes of
knowledge. Even if there were such a thing, it cannot be
known, since it must pertain to the sense-organs and, as such,
must be supersensible. Nor can we know validity from the
experience of non-contradiction (b盲dhak膩bh膩vaj帽膩na). Non-
contradiction cannot be a test of the truth of knowledge. When
we speak of non-contradiction we must mean either of two
things, namely, that there is no contradiction for the present
or that there cannot be a contradiction at any time. But to
know that there is non-contradiction for the present is not to
know that the knowledge must be valid. For what is not now
contradicted may be and often is contradicted in the future.
That there cannot be a contradiction at any time is what we can
never know unless we become omniscient. Absolute non-con-
tradiction is, therefore, an impracticable test of truth. Nor again
can the validity of knowledge be known from its coherence with
some other knowledge (sav膩da). For this will lead to infinite
regress. How can we know that there is real coherence between
two cases of knowledge? How again do we know that the
second knowledge, with which the first coheres and by which
it is tested, is itself valid? To prove the validity of the second
we must show its coherence with a third and so on ad infinitum.
Or, if we stop anywhere and say that the last knowledge or
the system of knowledge as a whole has self-evident validity,
there is no reason why the first knowledge cannot be said to
have the same self-evident truth. It cannot also be said that
the coherence of knowledge consists in the volitional experience
of expected results. The mere experience of desired objects
is no evidence of the validity of knowledge. In dream we
have vivid experiences of many desired things. This however
does not make dream a valid knowledge at all. Thus we see
that there cannot be any extraneous test of the validity of
knowledge, like correspondence, coherence, non-contradiction
or pragmatic utility. Hence knowledge must test or certify