Carvaka

Carvaka, also called Lokayata, is the materialist school of ancient India, which held that perception is the only reliable source of knowledge.

Almost all its own texts are lost (Jayarāśi's sceptical treatise is the main exception), and it is known mainly through summaries by its opponents, so its views have to be reconstructed with care. Tradition names Bṛhaspati as its founder, and Ajita Kesakambali, a materialist contemporary of the Buddha, is often counted as a forerunner. Carvaka thinkers denied rebirth, karma, an afterlife and any god, held that consciousness arises from the elements of the body, and questioned whether inference can ever be certain. On this site it answers questions on the origin of the cosmos, natural theology (1.8), meta-metaphysics and argument.