First Steps to Jainism Part 2

Author(s): Sancheti Asso Lal, Manakmal Bhandari
Publisher: Sancheti Trust Jodhpur

Page 88

74 First Steps to Jainism
thesis and claims it to be true. Thus a philosopher does not really understand the point that is being made by the opposite side. Rival schools only encourage dogmatism and intoleration in philosophy. This, occording to the Jains, is the evil of "ekanta" or one-sided philosophies. Even the conflicting propositions of rival schools may be in order, provided they are asserted with proper qualifications or conditionalization. This is what exactly the "Anekanta" doctrine teaches. Add a "Syat" particle to your philosophic proposition and you have the truth.
Nonviolence i.e. abstention from killing or taking the life of others, was the dominant trend in the whole "Sramana" movement in India, particularly in Buddhism and Jainism. I think the Jains carried the principle of Non-violence to the intellectual level, and thus propounded their "Anekant" doctrine. Thus the hallmark of the Anekanta doctrine was toleration. The principle embodied in the respect for the life of others, was transformed by Jain philosophers at the intellectual level into respect for the views of others. This is, I think, an unique attempt to harmonize the persistent discord in the field of philosophy."