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from the comparative point of view of western philosopher's thinking with the Jain concept of naya and syād perspective. 4.7.1 Overlapping Between Jainism and Husserl's Philosophical
Views Jaina Nayavāda vis-a-vis Husserl's Phenomenology
The Phenomenologist Husserl's (1859-1938) philosophical investigations are directed to the search for absolute or universally valid truths. The central motive of Husserl's philosophical endeavour is the search for certainty. of He is a sharp critique of relativism. Relativism, Husserl thinks, leads to a decline in our confidence in our rational certainty. He says, “If truth is relative, being dependent on historical, cultural or psychological context or background, then it will differ with the difference of context. The ultimate result will be the difference of opinion with regard to truth. This will result in skepticism, where social discord and turmoil will be the final outcome. According to Husserl, this crisis ultimately leads us to look for truth as something context independent as a way out of this crisis.
Jainism is a philosophy of non-absolutism and relative pluralism. Jain thinkers will never agree with Husserl that relativism constitutes the crisis of the age. On the contrary, they will emphatically urge that it is rather the other way round. To them, relativism, instead of being the root cause of the crisis of man, is the way out and the only way out of all sorts of crisis that befall us. It is the absolutistic conception of truth irrespective of the.consideration of viewpoints which, the Jains will forcefully say, is at the root of all the crisis of human civilization. Objects of our knowledge, according to Jains, have inexhaustible facets or aspects, and it is impossible for us, except, of course, in the case of kevaljñāni, to know directly all the aspects of an object. Along with this, we cannot even
'Mrinal Kanti Bhadra. A Critical Survey of Phenomenology and Existentialism. Delhi: ICPR and Allied Publishers, 1990, Intro. p. 3.
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