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FOREWORD
Dr. Harisatya Bhattacharyya is well known to the academic circle for his philosophical essays and papers, particularly with reference to the Jaina System of thought. The credit of the pioneer in the field of Jaina thought must go to Dr. Bhattacharyya. Jaina philosophy has an individuality of its own, but only a few scholars were previously attracted to it in spite of the fact that Jainism is still a living religion with an influential and rich lay community professing allegiance to it. It is more or less a paradox that Buddhist thought engaged the attention of scholars and students of philosophy in India and Europe prior to Jaina philosophy, though India has had no effective Buddhist sect cultivating and practising its tenets. Fortunately there has been a change in the academic attitude. Jainism is now having more and more attention and receiving serious examination. Dr. Bhattacharyya's contribution in the field of Jainological study is worthy of appreciation, as one of the factors for the revival of interest in the rich and original philosophical speculation of the school.
The present work entitled 'Reals In The Jaina Metaphysics' is a comparative and critical study of the ontological speculations of Jaina philosophers. The author of this stimulating book is nowhere dogmatic. He has compared and contrasted Jaina views with those of the rival schools of Indian philosophy and also the speculation of science and philosophy of the West. This adds to the value of the work and students of philosophy will find in it a rewarding study. His interest is purely academic and not inspired by extraacademical considerations. This will be evident to every student of philosophy who will read this book. The fundamental problems and categories have been studied and evaluated with an admirable thoroughness which evinces the author's extensive study of Indian and Western philo
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