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Chapter Nine PLURALISTIC REALISM
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“The distinctive feature of an unintelligent man is the hastiness and absoluteness of his opinions. The scientist is slow to believe and never speaks without modification--always ready to concede that it may be wrong."
Bertrand Russel The greatest contribution which the Jainas have made to the world of thought is by their theories of Nayavada and Syadváda. The word 'Syad' in Sanskrta means 'perbaps' but in Jainism it is used to show the relativity of a judgement and the word 'Naya' means 'Standpoint. Truth or reality is always complex and has many aspects. If one is impressed by one of the aspects of a complex reality and begins to identify the reality only by that aspect he is bound to make a wrong judgement about the reality. Therefore, the Jaina seers exhort us to look at the complexities of life and knowledge, from every standpoint and from positive as well as negative aspects. They recognise that the apprehension of an ordinary human being is partial and hence valid only from a particular point of view which cannot give a correct or even a nearly correct comprehension of the whole. The complex reality has not only infinite number of qualities but also infinite number of relations. Again, it may be looked at differently by dilfercnt persons and under their different circumstances. It assumes different forms and appearances for which due allowance ought to be made. All this makes it difficult to form a correct judgement about it unless a systematic and logical method is found to identify it. This method is called Nayavada. As Dr. S. Radhakrishnan? observes -
“The doctrine of Nayas or Standpoints is a peculiar feature of Jaina logic. A Naya is a standpoint from which we make
1. Indian Philosophy, Vol. I, pp. 295-299.
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