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Preliminary Considerations
at the general Indian philosophical outlook to get at the Jaina conception of philosophy.
However, before referring to the backdrop of the Indian tradition against which the Jaina concept of philosophy can be discemed, it is important to bear in mind that the term philosophy itself is understood in the west in different senses. The divergent usages of the term and the various postulations in regard to the aim of philosophy and the implicit suggestions concerning the methodology to be adopted might all be quite helpful in appreciating the fact that within the Indian tradition itself the term philosophy can well be expected to incorporate different meanings which however are inter-related.
The obvious reason for the brief reference to the varied meanings of philosophy in the western tradition is that philosophy is a western term. As derived from the Greek root-words, philos and sophia, the activity called philosophising is ultimately rooted in the 'love of wisdom'. Man's curiosity to know and understand Reality perhaps resulted in his probing into its various aspects, analysing them, interpreting the aspects analysed and coming out with theories and systems. The Greek philosophia, as love of wisdom, generated the twin-habits of 'searching inquiry' and a ceaseless effort at "comprehending Reality'. The rigourous exercise of the mental powers and the recognition of the need to develop the capacity for reflection and analysis have always characterised philosophy in the West; nay, they have become the dominant strains of the westem philosophic enterprise in the West. The result, as the history of western philosophy shows clearly, is that divergent definitions of philosophy came to be put forward and different schools of philosophy emerged while proposing various pers-pectives and led even to a radical revision of traditionally accepted concepts of philosophy.
These ideas concerning the concept of philosophy in the west, have far-reaching implications for a concept of philosophy in the Indian tradition and for the Jaina viewpoint, as an integral aspect of the Indian tradition as we propose to argue in the following pages. Since darśana is the nearest equivalent for philosophy in the Indian tradition, delineating the concept of darśana is quite usesul here. Our argument in brief is that the various strands of meaning of the term darśana facilitate an appreciation of the Jaina concept of philosophy itself. The Jaina conception of philosophy may indeed be considered an articulation of aspects of the general Indian conception as discernible in the concept of darśana.
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