Nyaya And Jaina Epistemology

Author(s): Kokila H Shah
Publisher: Sharadaben Chimanbhai Educational Research Centre

Page 20

INTRODUCTION
Philosophy should begin with the theory of knowledge. The problem of knowledge is origin and nature of knowledge, its sources and limitations. Philosophy—the quest for ultimate reality would be futile without an inquiry into the problem of knowledge. If the capacities of human mind are limited and if there are no other sources to know the nature of Reality then philosophy would be meaningless. Epistemology, the science of knowledge, therefore, must precede ontology, the science of Reality.
Epistemology, which concerns itself with systematic reflections about knowledge has come to occupy a central place in philosophy.
Epistemologically, the chief philosophical problem is when an individual apprehends any sort of object, can the object, thus, apprehended retain its existence and character apart from its relation to the apprehending subject ? The dispute over the epistemological problem regarding the status of what appears in our cognition leads to the problem of Realism versus Idealism. In fact, different positions can be taken towards this epistemological problem like objectivism