Daniel Arnold, ‘Of Intrinsic Validity: A Study on the Relevance of Purva Mimamsa’

Philosophy East and West 51 (January 2001), 26-53.


The Mimamsaka doctrine of svatah pramanya (‘intrinsic validity’) has seldom been given the serious philosophical attention it deserves. This doctrine in fact grows out of a sophisticated critique of epistemological foundationalism. This critique, as well as the larger project that it serves, has striking similarities with the philosophical project advanced in William Alston's Perceiving God. A comparison of the two helps to highlight the strengths and the problems of both projects, and shows, perhaps more importantly, that the Mimamsaka doctrine is in fact still relevant, as it resembles one of the more interesting positions currently in play in contemporary philosophy.

[abtract in Journal]