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Ep. 128
Most philosophy curriculums stop at Plato and Kant, leaving out one of the most rigorous, sophisticated, and world-altering traditions in human history. Today, we step into the world of Jaimini, an ancient Indian philosopher (4th–2nd century BCE) who asked a question so precise it launched a debate still raging today: What does it mean to act rightly—and how could we ever truly know?
In this lecture, we explore Jaimini’s Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā school and his groundbreaking text, the Mīmāṃsā-Sūtra. We’ll uncover: • Why Jaimini argued that the Vedas are eternal and authorless (Apauruṣeya). • How he developed a “grammar of sacred action” 2,000 years before J.L. Austin’s speech act theory. • His revolutionary six sources of knowledge (pramāṇas), including the unique concepts of arthāpatti (postulation) and anupalabdhi (non-apprehension). • The hermeneutical principles that solved apparent contradictions in ancient texts—a toolkit still used in legal and theological interpretation today.
From the opening four words “Athāto dharma-jijñāsā” (Now, therefore, the inquiry into dharma) to the fierce debates with Buddhist epistemologists, discover why Jaimini remains essential for anyone interested in ethics, language, and the nature of authority.
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