Dialectical terms (9): False rejoinder (uttara)

False Rejoinder is the opposition that occurs in a counterdemonstration. It is being defined as an attempt of the opposition to upset the endeavor to establish a thesis by showing a dissimilarity of the reason where a similarity of the subject of the thesis with the example is stated or by showing the similarity of the reason where the dissimilarity of the subject of the thesis with the example is stated.^[1] Thus, when it is said that diseases are caused by factors having identical properties, for instance cold fever is caused by factors having identical properties such as snow and chilly air, the contention is that effects are dissimilar from their causes because burning and heating sensation and inflammation of organs of the body are caused by exposure to snow and cold wind.^[2]

The category named jāti of the Nyāya-sūtras serves the very same purpose of uttara in debate.^[3] There, it is defined as a sophistical refutation of an argument based on similarity or dissimilarity.^[4] Akṣapāda enumerates twenty-four kinds of futile rejoinders^[5] which Caraka was unaware of. If this elaborate list had been known to Caraka, he would not have passed them with out referring to them.^[6]