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CONCLUSION
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itself not merely as many (anantātmakam) but also as infinitely manifold (anantadharmātmakam) or indeterminate in every detail. The principle of distinction, the motive force of realism in any form, was observed to have reached its logical terminus in this doctrine. Hence the claim that anekāntavāda is the most consistent form of realism in Indian philosophy. In the process of substantiating this claim the several logical phases in the evolution of anekāntavāda (from a simple state of distinction to that of infinite diversification, encompassing the physical and the mental realms) were traced and illustrated.
It was next pointed out that Nayavāda, the doctrine of standpoints (the analytical method or methods), and Syādvāda, the dialectic of conditional predication, or simply the conditional dialectic (the synthetical method), stemmed from Anekāntavāda. The first was observed to be a scheme of analytical methods and the second a synthetical method involving seven progressive steps. Together the two methods were looked upon as forming a comprehensive scheme of correlative instruments designed to aid an apprehension of the complex structure of reality. Each method, or each step involved in it, was individually treated and its significance and implications were duly noted.
The work has aimed throughout at a comparative treatment of the problems under discussion. It was endeavoured to avoid strained and far-fetched comparisons or contrasts. Further, the treatment in this study of criticisms and controversies has been undertaken not from the citadel of sectarian dogmas but from the standpoint of a certain system of logic, a system deserving of betterattention than ithas hitherto received.
