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Jainism As Metaphilosophy
necessary to indicate how the philosophy of criticism takes a slightly
different form in it.
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What needs to be brought out in regard to Syādvāda is the idea of synthesis as criticism. The subtlety of this idea of criticism needs to be reiterated to indicate that Syadvada complements Nayavada by bringing to the fore the necessity to bring together various analytical perspectives derived through Nayavada.
Starting with the idea that analysis and synthesis represent but two complementary aspects of philosophising, the argument could be advanced further by stating that (i) the procedure of synthesis completes the work of analysis and hence (ii) the idea of synthesis, despite the fact that it is taken up for consideration as 'another aspect', should not be considered distinct. In the overall treatment of philosophy as criticism, Syadväda can be visualised only as criticism aimed at synthesising several one-sided doctrines.
Focusing our attention on (i) referred to above: Syädväda emphasises positively the need for accepting the truth-claims of 'rival theories' with the method of conditional predication. Conditional acceptance of various theories signifies that they all have to be accepted, but not in the form of categorical formulations with which they have been presented. The critical method adopted in Syādvāda then is by accepting the contributions of different schools of thought even while rejecting their simple, categorical assertions or denial.15 Such an adoption of the critical method is to be contrasted with the one involved in Nayavāda where the presentation of one-sided doctrines is first rejected and then they are all accepted as forming part of a 'confluence of perspectives', i.e. as non-one-sided presentations.
It is easy to see how the point made in (ii) above follows as a necessary corollary. Synthesising different points of view is not possible unless the latter are considered only as aspects of a totality. As long as the different perspectives are considered as independent viewpoints which claim validity for themselves as against other perspectives, no meaningful synthesis can result. But the moment they are recognised as points of view which have been proposed from different angles and hence as valid only from the respectives spheres of vision, synthesis as a distinct possibility emerges. This is because the function of synthesis as consisting
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