But virtually each school of Indian philosophy possesses its own conception of the self or
ātman, which must now be examined. Such an examination is facilitated by a review of the conception of the self in each of the nine schools of Indian thought. Although this standardization is relatively recent (Halbfass 1988, p. 353) it is worth employing because it enables one to present the concept of the self across the various schools with some measure of coherence. These nine schools, usually listed in order, are the Cārvāka (of Lokāyata), Jaina, Bauddha, Nyāya, Vaiśeika, Sānkhya, Yoga, Mīmāsā, and Vedānta.
CĀrvĀka
According to the Cārvāka school, the body itself constitutes the self (deha eva ātmā); of course, what is meant is that the conscious body constitutes the self. However, this immaterial element of consciousness in the body is considered an epiphenomenon of the material components of the body, in a manner reminiscent of scientific materialism. The Cārvāka school would establish the plausibility of the emergence of a property not contained in the elements by their coming together on the analogy of water, which possesses the quality of wetness, a property not possessed by the two gases of which it is composed.
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