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The Indian-Jaina Dialectic of Syadvada 117
"Thus the Jainas hold that no affirmation, or judgment, is absolute in nature, each is true in its own limited sense only, and for each one of them any of the above seven alternatives (technically called saptabhangi) holds good. (See syādvādamañjarī with Hemachandra's commentary p. 166 etc). The Jainas say that other Indian systems each from its own point of view asserts itself to be the absolute and the only point of view. They do not perceive that the nature of reality is such that the truth of any assertion is merely conditional and holds good only in certain conditions, circumstances, or senses (upadhi). It is thus impossible to make any affirmation which is universally and absolutely valid. For a contrary or contradictory affirmation will always be found to hold good of any judgment in some sense or other. As all reality is partly permanent and partly exposed to change in the form of losing and gaining old and new qualities, and is thus relatively permanent and changeful, so all our affirmations regarding truth are also only relatively valid and invalid. Being, non-being and indefinite, the three categories of logic, are all equally available in some sense or other in all their permutations for any and every kind of judgment. There is no universal and absolute position or negation, and all judgments are valid only conditionally."1
4.
Realism
4.1. Jaina logic is essentially realistic: "The Jaina philosopher maintains that existents are possessed of an infinite number of attributes and characteristics which can be discovered by experience alone. He refused to put a premium on internal intuition. The mind, even with its active contributions, which the Jaina does not seek to deny, is believed by him to be an instrument of discovery and not a creator of facts." (JPN; p. 1)
"Logic has to work upon the data of experience and is as much an instrument as experience is." (JPN, p. 5) ..."Pure logic, prior to and independent of experience, is a blind guide to the determination of truth. Logic is to rationalize and systematize what experience offers." (JPN, p. 78).
"A thing existent, is non-existent and is both existent and non-existent, but always subject to limitations imposed by objective
1
S. Dasgupta, History of Indian Philosophy, vol. I, pp. 180-181 (Cambridge University Press. 1922).
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