Jainism as Metaphilosophy

SR No.: 001194
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: S Gopalan
Publisher: Satguru Publications Delhi
Publication Year: 1991
Total Pages: 92
Language: English
Classification: Book_English & Philosophy
File Size: 5 MB

Page 58

Jainism As Metaphilosophy
2 By partial acceptance and partial rejection of both theories. (Some S is P and Some S is not-P) An example from Descartes is: “Knowledge of external objects is due to sensation but knowledge of the Infinite is not so." An illustration from the Vaiseșika system is: "Change is real in regard to relations among ultimate elements but it is not so in respect of the elements themselves."
3 By accepting both the theorics through a recognition of the complementary type of relationship between certain important aspects of them. (Every S is both P and Not-P in different but inseparable respects.) Kant's attempting to reconcile the claims of empiricism and Rationalism is a typical instance of this type of reconciliation; the role of the senseorgans in receiving sensations and the role of the mind in organising and interpreting them are both considered necessary, as useful complements in explaining the origin of knowledge. Reconciling the claims of determinism and freedom by pointing to the act of will as determined by the self and not by factors external to oneself is another instance.
4 By rejecting both (S is neither P nor not-P) on the count that the theories rest on a common wrong presupposition, the corrected version is proposed as a new theory. Henry Bergson's rejecting the theories of mechanism as well as finalism by the setting aside presupposition of predetermination and proposing the thcory of creative evolution in their place illustrates this type of reconciliation.
5 By rejecting the underlying problem itself either as illegitimate (as Kant does in respect of questions like “Is the thing-in-itself one or many?”) or as meaningless (as logical positivists do regarding metaphysical questions in general) or as undecidable (as thc Buddha does in regard to questions like “Is the world eternal?”) or as self-contradictory (as Sankara does regarding the question “Do I exist?”).
6 And lastly, by conceding the limitations of the rational faculty in man and admitting the superiority of intuitive cxperience. Reconciling the claims of reason and intuition by relegating the former to the empirical realm and considering the latter to be ultimately effective in reaching the transecendental level is frequently witnessed in western as well as eastern philosophy. In the West Bradley's replacing the sphere of Appearance by resorting to immediate pure experience is a good instance. The ideas of Sūnya and Atman resulting from the dialectical arguments of Nagarjuna and Sriharşa are illustrations of this way of reconciliation from the side of eastern philosophy.