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SOME PROBLEMS IN JAINA PSYCHOLOGY
recollection. The Jainas make upamana a form of recognition. Psychological analysis of recognition shows that recognition is a fusion of a percept and an image.
Anumana (inference), is another source of knowledge. Inference has been recognized by all systems of Indian thought except the Carvaka, as a source of knowledge. The Jaina analysis of inference has great psychological value, although it is mainly epistemological. The distinction between inference for oneself (svartha) and inference for others (parārtha), is very important. Inference for others needs a syllogistic structure for expression. On this basis, Bhadrabahu contends that the extent of the constituent propositions depends on the ability of the person to whom it is addressed.
Inference is a mental process. Validity of inference depends on psychological and logical grounds. It is based on the perception of the relation of the minor term to the middle term, and the recollection of the universal relation between the major and the middle term. McDougall showed that all deductive reasoning involves 'aperceptive' synthesis.1 Similarly, the desire to know is an important condition of inference. Miss Stebbing said that inference involves both the constitutive and the epistemic conditions. The epistemic condition relates to what the thinker, who is inferring, knows.5
Supernormal Perception
The Jainas thought that knowledge due to the sense organs and the mind is not sufficient to comprehend the nature of reality. They accepted the possibility of immediate and direct experience without the use of the sense organs and the mind. This is pratyakṣa. This is supernormal experience. All schools of Indian Philosophy, except the Cārvākas, accept the possibility of such supernormal experience.
The Jainas give three levels of supernormal perception: (i) avadhi, (ii) manaḥparyāya, and (iii) kevala. Avadhi may be compared to clairvoyance. It differs with different individuals according to their capacities. Human beings acquire this form of experience. But it is natural with beings living in heaven and hell. The Jainas have described different varieties of avadhi.
Researches in extra-sensory perception show that clairvoyant cognition may differ with different individuals regarding intensity and durability of experience. The Society for Psychical Research has found many instances of this type. The psychic phenomenon called 'French Sensitiveness', which is sometimes called 'psychometry', may be regarded
4 McDougall (W.): An Outlines of Psychology, p. 402.
5 Stebbing (S.): Modern Introduction to Logic, p. 215.
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