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The Jaina Philosophy of Non-Absolutism
of philosophy inadequate and imperfect. I have however criticized the later exponents of Jaina thought and in this I trust I have only exercised the prerogative of an exponent, who need not be a yes-man. I have offered my criticism in honest faith and I have referred to Vimaladasa in support of my position. I believe that the problem of the relation of universals to particulars is purely logical and not spatio-temporal. The universal is logically related to the particular and this relation is not capable of being understood in terms of space-time determination.
The universal is a fact which can be understood by logical thought alone and space-time does not constitute either a determination of or a barrier to its ontological status. It is everywhere and everywhen in the sense that it cannot be conceived to ontologically non-existent, though for self-manifestation it requires a spatio-temporal event as its medium, in between its media. It "is neither given nor presented but is taken" in the language of Bradley.
I shall consider my labour to be amply justified if it succeeds in stimulating the interest of a student of philosophy in Indian thought in general and in Jaina thought in particular.
Asutosh Building, 9th March 1944.
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SATKARI MOOKERJEE
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