New Dimensions in Jaina Logic

Author(s): Mahaprajna Acharya, Nathmal Tatia
Publisher: Today and Tommorrow Printers and Publishers

Page 94

36 New Dimensions in Jaina Logic
absolutism, ekanta (singular viewpoint). The propounder of nonabsolutism (relativism) admits both non-absolutism and absolutism in their proper perspective. This is why the system of sevenfold predication (saptabhangi) is applicable to non-absolutism (relativism) itself in the following manner.
1. There is absolutism in some respect.
2. There is non-absolutism in some respect.
3. There are both absolutism and non-absolutism in some respect.
4. There is indescribability in some respect.
5. There is absolutism and indescribability in some respect. 6. There is non-absolutism and indescribability in some respect. 7. There is absolutism, non-absolutism and indescribability in some respect.
There is no contradiction in absolutism by itself. What is denied is only the absolutism that refutes the contrary viewpoint. Absolutism thus is twofold, viz. right and wrong. The absolutism that is right is naya, while the wrong one is pseudo-naya. Nonabsolutism is not an obstinate and rigid doctrine because the admission of the co-existence of contrary attributes not attested by any valid source of knowledge does not fall within the purview of genuine non-absolutism. Thus non-absolutism is of two kinds, viz. right and wrong. The former is valid knowledge, while the latter is a sham simulation of it. The right non-absolutism has a universal application.
Acārya Akalanka has subjected the substance 'jiva' to the system of sevenfold predication as follows
*The soul exists (in its aspect of consciousness) in some respect.
*The soul does not exist (in its aspect of consciousness) in some respect.
The implication of the above two propositions is that the soul is a conscious substance only so far as its activity of consciousness is concerned. But it has also other aspects, such as the aspect of being a cognitum or an agent of will, and so on, which are the attributes quite apart from consciousness. In this way all such attributes that are not opposed to reason and logic are the subject-matter of the doctrine of non-abolutism.16
Question 5. Is relativity itself subject to the system of seven