Sadasatkhyati

(“discrimination of the unreal as the
real”) Theory of error propounded by
the Samkhya philosophical school. All
theories of error attempt to explain why
people make errors in judgment, the
stock example being of mistaking the
silvery flash of a sea shell for a piece of
silver. The Samkhya theory of error is
based on dualistic metaphysics, in
which the fundamental error comes in
confusing purusha and prakrti—
roughly, spirit and nature—which are
the sources of all things. These are the
two Samkhya first principles—purusha
as conscious witness, and prakrti as
insentient matter—which are always
separate from each other, and whose
attributes can never coincide. For the
Samkhyas, the fundamental error is to
confuse these two completely different
principles—that is, to attribute powers
of motion and development to purusha,
and consciousness to prakrti. Purusha is
conceived as conscious, but completely
inactive and unchanging. It is the passive witness to the myriad transformations of prakrti going on around it.
This initial misidentification causes
the evolution of the entire world, both
the interior, subjective world and the
exterior world the subject perceives.
Against this background, confusing the
shell for silver is just an extension of this
original mistake and is rooted in it.
According to the Samkhyas, perfect
knowledge would protect one from all
sorts of errors, both cosmic and mundane. For further information see Karl
H. Potter (ed.), Presuppositions of India’s
Philosophies, 1972.