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The Nyaya Conception of Universals
other possible explanations. The postulation of a universal distinct from the individuals is dictated by a logical necessity and the consequential problem of its relation demands an explanation. And when an explanation is not available except one based upon the nature of things, we have to accept it as a matter of metaphysical necessity. The Buddhist hypothesis be an could be accepted if the universal were found to impossible fiction.
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If one attribute could not by its very nature be related to a number of individuals or conversely a number of individuals could not share in common one identical attribute, then the hypothesis of one individual as doing duty for a universal were to be accepted as a matter of logical necessity. But the unity of a real is not incompatible with its connection with a plurality of individuals. The Buddhist also admits that one cognition can have reference to a number of reals. This shows that the unity of the cognition is not annulled by the plurality of the objects with which it is related, and conversely, the plurality of the objects is not jeopardized by the unity of the cognition which includes them within its field of reference. That being so, the unity of the universal cannot be supposed to preclude its connection with a number of individuals. The denial of a unitive universal on the contrary would make the unitive reference of concepts unintelligible. If the idea of plurality is not the proof of the objective existence of a plurality, then the Vedantic position of one absolute serving as the prius of the plurality of phenomena has to be accepted as a satisfactory explanation of the world order. Thus all the objections regarding the ontological status of universals have been weighed in the balance and found wanting.
The last objection regarding the knowledge of universals is equally doomed to failure. That there is knowledge of a common nature cannot be denied without contradicting the plain verdict of experience. The fact that it is felt as such presupposes that it must have a reason for it. The validity of such cognitions cannot be impeached without impeaching the reality of their objects. But it has been shown that the reality of universals as objects of conceptual knowledge cannot be repudiated and consequently concepts cannot be condemned as false.
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