Jinamanjari 1998 09 No 18

Author(s): Jinamanjari
Publisher: Canada Bramhi Jain Society Publication

Page 67

displaying both inherent strengths and pitfalls of these traditions. He commends Logical Positivism and Empericism as being the foundation of the Western model of Science and early Modernism. He states that much like the Jaina doctrine of anekantavāda, Whitehead has come to recognise that although beliefs and ideals are the instruments of change, the characteristics of such ideals and aspirations at any moment are limited by the philosophical understandings available at that moment (Adventures of Ideas, Whitehead). He brings this particular thread to its conclusion:
To save philosophy from this impasses, we have to adopt a synoptic view towards the [epistemological] problems of philosophy. ...Whitehead's fundamental attitude in philosophy is essentially the same as the anekātva view of life. Whitehead defined speculative philosophy as the endeavour to frame a coherent, logical, necessary system of general ideas in terms of which every element of our experience can be interpreted. ... [and] the Jaina view of anekānta comes nearer to this approach. ... We have to note that the function of philosophy is not merely an academic pursuit of reality. It is a way of life. Philosophy has had the dual purpose of revealing truth and increasing virtue. (10-11).
With anekāntavāda and the optimistic philosophy of Whitehead as his springboard, Prof. Kalghatgi delves into his other tracts with an equal enthusiasm and integrity in his summation of such topics as: an approach to reality, the Jaina theory of soul, a critique of knowledge, and the doctrine of karma. Although the technical language employed appears to be geared towards the philosophical and historical scholar, particularly those in the West, his coherent style of writing makes this collection accessible to most. This book is indeed a rare gem.
Mikal Austin Radford is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Religious
Studies, McMaster University, Canada.
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