Jain Thought and Culture

Author(s): G C Pandey
Publisher: University of Rajasthan

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Emergence of Rational and Abstract Thought in the Jan Tradition
The role of abstraction is in the formation of concepts and general ideas in abstraction the identical elements are singled out and combined into a concept. It starts from a content that is a vague presentation, lacking both differentiation and integration and as such not yet either particular or universal Through intelligence it is transformed into a coherent system Abstraction is not the end of thinking, but a process which thought uses in the accomplishments of its own ends By reaching the highest abstraction we achieve the emptiness of thought, so it is in the process itself that the function of abstraction is justified The early docirines of the Jinist thought discussed above give a true picture of this The heterodox systems of philosophy in general and Jainism in particular prepared the ground for the development of scientific method in times to come