Lesson · 4 min Steady
The Example
In one line An inference should survive an example where the reason is present and the conclusion fails.
Inference, in this school, is not a bare therefore. You show the pattern with a case someone can check. The reason has to be present in the case you are judging, and present in the example.
It also has to be absent where the conclusion would be false. One kitchen on fire does not prove every smoking thing is burning, if a wet cloth can smoke and not burn.
An argument that cannot survive an example is not yet an argument. The aim is freedom from error, not a pile of clever wins. Name the Means names the means. This one asks the inference to show its work.
Smoke on the hill
Someone says the hill is on fire because it smokes, as the kitchen smokes and is on fire. The kitchen is a case you can check.
If the hill has no smoke, the reason is not in the case. If a wet cloth smokes and is not on fire, the pattern fails where the conclusion would be false. The therefore does not get to skip either check.
Try this today Test one “if A then B” rule by looking for a case with A but not B.
Cite or share this lesson
A plain reference you can paste into notes or an essay:
Quest2Reason. “The Example.” https://quest2reason.com/learn/lesson/the-example. Accessed 13 November 2026.
Sources
- Wikipedia, “Nyaya” — Overview of Nyaya inference and example.
- Nyaya Sutra, attributed to Akshapada Gautama — Inference shows a reason in the case and in an example someone can check, and not where the conclusion would be false. Paraphrase.
- Nyaya Sutra, attributed to Akshapada Gautama — The kitchen fire is the sort of example the school wants: a case you can look at, not a therefore left bare.
- Wikipedia, “Nyāya Sūtras” — The foundational text of the Nyaya school.
- Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Nyaya” — Covers Nyaya inference, including the role of the example.