Indian Knowledge System and Formal Systems

Various aspects of Indian Knowledge are being studied within the frame of Indology, history, and other disciplines, but there is a lack of perspective on the overall scheme of that knowledge, its structure, and how it fares as a formal knowledge system.

This talk attempts to bring that focus. We discuss briefly what a formal system is and some of the aspects of a formal system like provability, axioms, completeness, and consistency.

We then see how the Indian knowledge system works from this perspective, and evaluate it with respect to these aspects of a formal system. In addition, we examine a few notions like interpolations, permanent and temporal knowledge, and pramanya in knowledge from this viewpoint.

As a case study we apply this perspective to Dharma Shastra and Vedanta, and how this understanding can help us view future systems and institutions of knowledge.

Speakers

Shankara Bharadwaj Khandavalli

Engineer, Director-Hindupedia & Member of Samvit Reseach Center, Hyderabad.

Shankara Bharadwaj Khandavalli is an engineer by profession, living in Bengaluru. His primary interests are in Indian knowledge and world views. His current focus is on the theoretical framework for the future institutions of state and society. He is one of the directors of Hindupedia, and a member of Samvit Reseach Center, Hyderabad.