New Dimensions in Jaina Logic

SR No.: 007010
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Mahaprajna Acharya, Nathmal Tatia
Publisher: Today and Tommorrow Printers and Publishers
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 206
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 10 MB

Page 159

Contribution of Jainism to Indian Logic 151
dormant and inactive. While discussing the new possible courses of philosophy one should not lose sight of facts contained therein. The importance and the efficacy of reasoning (tarka) cannot be denied. It cannot be divorced from philosophy. But reason is, on no account, superior to experience. It is rather subordinate to it. Observation and experiment occupy the first position. In the expression anumāna (inference) the particle 'anu' indicated that inference is preceded by perception and observation which is subsequently subjected to reasoning. The science of logic or reasoning is also called ānvīkṣikī, which is derived from anu + ikṣā, thus meaning a science which is preceded by observation. General principles are derived from observation and experiment. And then the successful working of these rules is carefully observed. These methods of experiment and verification make it possible for us to formulate a plausible theory. Such theories obviously are not based on pure intuition. It is reasoning alone which is the instrument which enables us to derive conclusions from observed facts and finally to arrive at universal laws. This is the method of philosophy and also of modern science. By experiment the scientist discovered the rule that metals expand when they are heated and contract when they are cooled. But this general rule has a solitary exception in that water gradually expands in volume when its temperature is reduced from four degrees to zero degree, and it does not contract even when cooling. This is a special law. It thus follows that nothing can be affirmed about actual facts exclusively on the basis of the general rules. This maxim applies to theoretical science, medicine as well as law. Definite predictions can be made on the basis of special laws. For instance, one can predict the bursting of waterpipe from the temperature of its water going below four degrees. This is the function of logic which has thus a paramount importance. But it cannot be considered as valuable as observation. In the absence of observational evidences it is neither possible to discover the general laws nor to apply logic when there are no data supplied by experience. The most urgent need and solid basis of philosophy can be summed up in the following three maxims
1. Investigation of new truths and facts and deriving necessary conclusions from them.
2. Development of the method of the minute observation.
3. Development of the purity of mind for acquiring the power of subtle observation.
For the successful implementation of all these conditions of development of knowledge, it is necessary to undertake co-ordina