Dignaga's Critique of Testimony and Inference

Dignaga, a Buddhist thinker, challenges the notion of testimony as a fundamental source of knowledge by emphasizing the requirement of inference even when testimony is involved. He insists that combining a witness's account with knowledge of their reliability is essential to derive knowledge. This distinguishes him from the Niaya school, asserting that every claim to knowledge must be based on evidence directly accessible to the individual knower, promoting rational assessment of testimonial credibility.