Charvaka
चार्वाक cārvākaThe materialist and skeptical school of classical Indian philosophy, also called Lokayata. It held that matter is the only reality, that consciousness arises from the body and ends at death, and that there is no soul, rebirth, or karma; it accepted perception as the one reliable source of knowledge.
Where this term appears
- Charvaka: the Indian materialists Philosophy
For more than two thousand years, in debate after debate, the Charvaka is the voice that says: prove it.
- What Are the Six Darshanas? Philosophy
The systems on the far side of the line are the materialist Charvaka , which accepts nothing but the evidence of the senses, and the great non-Vedic traditions of Buddhism and Jainism.
- Hinduism and Buddhism: the difference Essentials
Jainism and the materialist Charvaka also fall on the nastika side, so Buddhism keeps company there rather than standing alone.
- Shruti and Smriti: what counts as Hindu scripture? Scriptures
The schools of Indian philosophy that accept that authority are called astika , "orthodox," and those that reject it, such as the Buddhists and Jains and the materialist Charvakas, are called nastika .
- The Four Aims of Life (Purusharthas) Essentials
The materialist school of Charvaka rejected both dharma and moksha as priestly inventions and kept only artha and kama, holding that wealth and pleasure in this one life are all a human being can sensibly aim a…
- What is Nyaya? Philosophy
The materialist Charvaka accepted perception alone, and Nyaya's charge against him is devastating in its plainness: a man who trusts only his eyes cannot even cross a street, for the judgement "there is fire wh…
- The neighbours and the doubters Treatise
Charvaka: the doubter in the house Then there is the school that threw it all out, and it is important that this school was Indian, ancient, and native to the tradition's own house.
- The Synthesizer Treatise
…of every Hindu philosophical school then living, from the materialist Charvaka to the Buddhist schools to the various sub-schools of Vedanta.