ABSTRACT
The Sautrāntika is a realist. He recognizes the reality of external objects. But they are not objects of perception. They are inferred from their cognitions. Cognitions are effects of external objects which are their causes. Cognitions are directly perceived ; external objects are inferred from them as their causes. Thus the Sautrāntika, like Descartes and Locke, advocates the representationist theory of perception. He holds that external objects give rise to cognitions and imprint their forms on them so that the forms of cognitions correspond to the forms of external objects. The correspondence between them or similarity of their forms (sarupya) is the criterion of truth. The Sautrāntika is an advocate of realism, representationism, and the correspondence theory of truth. 1 Descartes and Locke are advocates of representationism. Descartes affirms the independent existence of matter as distinguished from mind. But matter is not directly perceived ; it is only causally inferred. Adventitious ideas are modes of mind caused by matter. So the existence of matter is inferred from them. Locke holds that ideas are signs of things, and from ideas we infer things. We directly perceive ideas, and infer the existence of physical objects from them. Representationism is based on the causal notion of perception. “ There is a substance, mind, on one side, and another substance, matter, on the other. The latter causes an effect in the former. This is the sensum ; and because it is an effect, it necessarily leads to the conclusion that its cause exists. Apprehension of an object is therefore an inference.” 1
