Book Title: Outlines of Jaina Philosophy
Author(s): Mohanlal Mehta
Publisher: Jain Mission Society Bangalore

Previous | Next

Page 145
________________ RELATIVITY OF JUDGMENT 121 The seventh proposition relatively the pot does exist, does not exist, and is indescribable' means that the pot does exist owing to its own properties, does not exist in regard to its nonexistent characteristics, and is indescribable if both the points of view are assumed simultaneously. Here the point of view is dominated by the combination of indescribability, the existence, and the non-existence of the pot. The point is that when the truth of a particular aspect of a thing is to be ascertained, it should not be examined only from one point of view. The Jainas hold that every aspect of an object can be viewed from seven stand-points, every one of which is true but the whole truth about that aspect lies in the combination of all these seven views. This seven-fold declaration of judgment in regard to everything, is a peculiar and unique method of the Jaina dialectic. Just as existence is applied to everything, so also the terms permanent and non-permanent, one and many, describable and indescribable, and the like can be applied to it. The propositions will be the same with the change of these words. For instance, relatively the pot is eternal (in view of its substance), relatively the pot is not eternal (in view of its changing forms). and so on. The gist of the seven-fold judgment of the Jaina dialectic is as under: 1. Thesis (positive). 2. Anti-thesis (negative). 3. Aggregation (both positive and negative respectively). 4. Synthesis (both positive and negative simultaneously). 5. Thesis and synthesis (positive, and both positive and negative simultaneously). 6. Anti-thesis and synthesis (negative, and both positive and negative simultaneously). 7. Aggregation and synthesis (both positive and negative respectively, and both positive and negative simultaneously). Or I. Existence. 2. Von-existence. 3. Existence and non-existence. 16

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195