Editing Carvaka School of Thought in Indian Philosophy (section)

==== '''Self or Soul in the Carvaka View''' ====
According to Cārvākas, when the four forms of matter, namely, earth, water, fire and air combine in a peculiar way, there result in what we call a body. Life, breath (prāna) and consciousness are present only in such a body. The particular combination of elements which make life and consciousness possible is called the self, according to Carvakas, beyond which there is no immaterial self or soul. The origin of consciousness or intelligence comes from the combination of elements as liquor’s inebriating power comes from the mixture of ingredients (Heera, 2011, p. 70-71)<sup>6</sup>. “That intelligence which is found to be embodied in modified forms of non-intelligent elements is produced in the same way in which red colour is produced from the combination of betel, areca nut and lime.” (''Review of the Different Systems of Hindu Philosophy'', 1882)

Consciousness is the result of emergent and dialectical evolution. It is an epiphenomenon, a by-product of matter. Given the four elements and their particular combination, consciousness manifests itself in the living body. ‘Matter secretes mind as the liver secretes bile.’ (Sharma, 1962, 32)<sup>11</sup> The so-called soul is simply the conscious living body   (Caitanya-visista-dehaevaatma). The soul is, therefore, the body, endued with consciousness. There is no proof of the existence of the soul apart from the body<sup>.</sup>. 

In the Sarva Darshan Sangraha, it has been quoted -

''In this school, there are four elements, earth, water, fire and air;''

''And from these four elements alone is intelligence produced,''

''Just like the intoxicating power from the quinoa, etc, mixed together;''

''Since in “I am fat,” “I am lean,” these attributes abide in the same subject,'' 

''And since fatness, etc, reside only in the body, it alone is the soul and no other,'' 

''And such phrases as “my body” are only significant metaphorically.'' 


The arguments advanced by Carvakas against the permanence of the soul and its transmigration from one body to another can be summarized as follows -

# Why does a person not     recall things that happened in his past existence if the soul changes     bodies in a cycle of births and deaths?
# Why does the soul never     return in a way that can be seen if it is reborn into another body? If he     who departs from the body goes to another world, how is it that he comes     not back again, restless for the love of his kindred?
# According to the     Carvakas, it is foolish to believe in reincarnation as evidenced by the     so-called believers' own lack of genuine belief. If the beast slain in the     Jyotisama rite will itself go to heaven, why then does not the sacrificer     forthwith offer his own father? (''Review of the Different Systems of     Hindu Philosophy'', 1882, 10)
# No one has ever seen the     transfer of consciousness from one body to another. 


Naturally, the denial of the atman, which plays a significant role in the other Indian systems, sparked the fiercest debate; theoretically, there is no disputing Carvaka's viewpoint. The existence of the soul or atman in the conventional sense cannot be proven. In fact, some orthodox philosophers are aware of this, which is why they emphasise the validity of the opposing view—that the body and the soul are not separate—in their arguments against the Carvaka theory. If consciousness is an essential property of the human body, it should be inseparable from it as Carvaka claims. But it is not. In swoons, fits, epilepsy, dreamless sleep etc. the living body is seen without consciousness. Conversely, in dreams, consciousness can be seen without a living body.  An awakened dreamer disowns the dream body but retains ownership of the dream consciousness. Even though dream consciousness is not directly challenged in waking life, the dream objects are sublated there. When a person wakes up from a dream in which they saw a tiger, they understand that the tiger was simply a dream, but the fact that they saw a tiger in their dream continues to be true. This demonstrates that awareness transcends the material body, which is merely its instrument and not its cause and endures through the three stages of waking life, dream life, and profound sleep life (Sharma, 1962, 33). Once more, the fact that consciousness cannot be felt outside of a physical body does not indicate that it is merely a byproduct of matter. For instance, the eye cannot see in the dark. Light is necessary for sight, yet it cannot be said to be the cause of sight. A simple coexistence is not a cause. The two bull horns, which are always found together, cannot be taken to mean anything. The body should not be viewed as the cause of awareness because it is merely a tool for its manifestation.