Charvaka
Ancient school of Indian materialism / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Charvaka (Sanskrit: चार्वाक; IAST: Cārvāka), also known as Lokāyata, is an ancient school of Indian materialism.[1] It is considered as one example of the atheistic schools in the Ancient Indian philosophies.[lower-alpha 1][3][lower-alpha 2][5][lower-alpha 3] Charvaka holds direct perception, empiricism, and conditional inference as proper sources of knowledge, embraces philosophical skepticism and rejects ritualism.[4][6][7][8][9] It was a well-attested belief system in ancient India.[lower-alpha 4]
Brihaspati, a philosopher, is traditionally referred to as the founder of Charvaka or Lokāyata philosophy, although some scholars dispute this.[10][11] Charvaka developed during the Hindu reformation period in the first millennium BCE, after Buddhism was established by Gautama Buddha and Jainism was re-organized by Parshvanatha.[12] Its teachings have been compiled from historic secondary literature such as those found in the shastras, sutras, and Indian epic poetry.[13]
In other words, the Charvaka epistemology states that whenever one infers a truth from a set of observations or truths, one must acknowledge doubt; inferred knowledge is conditional.[14]
Charvaka is categorized as one of the nāstika or "heterodox" schools of Indian philosophy.[15][16]