Anekanta Philosophy of Co existence

Author(s): Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

Page 51

Anekanta : Philosophy of co-existence
science of statistics : 'I should now like to make some brief observations of my own on the connection between Indian - Jains' views and the foundations of statistical theory. I have already pointed out that the fourth category of syādvāda, namely, avaktavya or the 'indeterminate' is a synthesis of three earlier categories of 1) assertion ('it is') 2) negation ('it is not'), and 3) assertion and negation in succession. The fourth category of syādvāda, therefore, seems to me to be in essence the qualitative but not quantitative aspect of the modern concept of probability. At the same time it is of interest to note that 1500 or 2500 years ago, syādvāda seems to have given the logical background of statistical theory in a qualitative form. “Secondly, I should like to draw attention to the Jain view that 'a real is a particular which possesses a generic attribute.' This is very close to the concept of an individual in relation to the population to which it belongs. The Jain view in fact denies the possibility of making any predication about a single and unique individual, which would be also true in modern statistical theory.” “The third point to be mooted is the emphasis given in Jain philosophy on the relatedness of things and on the multiform aspects of reals which appear to be similar (again in a purely qualitative sense) to the basic ideas underlying the concepts of association, correlation and concomitant variation in modern