Abstract

In the book Nyayasutra, there is an inference that Schayer related to first-order predicate logic. The relation was challenged, because it seemed to ignore important components of that Indian inference. The present paper also proposes a relation to first-order predicate calculus. However, it comes to the new relation following contemporary approaches about human reasoning: the theory of mental models and case-based reasoning. The main idea is that the chief concept in the inference in the Nyayasutra is that of similarity. If that concept is understood as the fact of sharing two properties, it is possible to link the inference to Carnap’s reduction sentences. This allows thinking that, although they belong to different intellectual traditions, the Indian inference and Carnap’s reduction sentences have a similar potential for the analysis of scientific definitions.