S.R. Ranganathan's PMEST Categories: Analyzing Their Philosophical Background and Cognitive Function

In this paper a comparison is made between the Vaisesika categorial system and the subject architecture given by S. R. Ranganathan (SRR), namely, PMEST (Personality. Matter, Energy, Space, Time). Advances the thesis that Indian classificatory thinking is based on this cultural and philosophical background; and that SRR'a theories themselves have been greatly influenced by this tradition. There are strict analogies between PMEST and Vaisesika categorial structure that are worth investigating more thoroughly. Our idea is to provide an additional stance for interpreting SRR's thought within the tradition of his own country. Some considerations about the role of categories both as foundation of the knowledge structure of a certain culture and as possible signs of a deeper biological and cognitive dimension of the human being are also made.