________________
PIOTR BALCEROWICZ
the homogeneous "whole truth' about an object. Even though we may be aware of many other features and circumstances thanks to cognitive criteria (pramana), we refer to any object or situation by way of an arbitrarily selected set.of features which distinguish it from all other objects or phenomena in a particular situation in compliance with our practical demands." How such various modes of reference operate is precisely what the naya-theory attempts to formalise. The general, pramaṇa-based knowledge of an object is thus a prerequisite for any naya-based reference to the same object."
Since every statement is uttered in a particular situation, its does communicate truth as long as we keep in mind its particular context. In other words the relation between a statement and its referent is not a one-to-one relation of the sort "utterance to truth-value', e.g. 'the relation characterised by the association of the denotatum and the denoter' (väcya-vacaka-bhava-lakṣaṇa-sambandha). As a matter of fact, we are forced to use incomplete statements that are correctly understood by others, provided we are able to apply them to their particular context. Since the process of interpretation is not a simple binary function (utterance truth-value), a simple statement Devadatta is' can trivially be either true or false depending on the context." Siddharsigani explicitly states that to determine the truth-value of an utterance we have to take into account at least the intention of the speaker and the linguistic convention," beside the denoter-denotatum relation. Thus, the simple relation utterance-truth-value' is intermediated by a range of additional parameters. Altogether the Jainas distinguish seven major parameters, or interpretative factors, comprised within the consistent scheme of the nayas (see p. 58 and n. 68). For the sake of simplicity, we can subsume all such parameters, or context-indicators, under an index as follows:
62
NAV 29.10. (p. 438): tasya visayo gocaro mato 'bhipreta eka-defenänityatádidharma-laksanena visistah para-rüpebhyo vibhinno 'rthah prameya-rupaṁ.
77
NAV 29.10 (p. 438): pramaṇa-pravṛtter uttara-kala-bhavi parāmarsa[b]-- [Viewpoint is] the reflection which arises in the point of time posterior to the operation of cognitive criterion."
NAV 29.28 (p. 472): vathaneka-puruşa-sampūrṇe sadasi dvärádau sthitasya kim atra devadattaḥ samasti nástiti va dolāyamäna-buddheḥ kenacid abhidhiyate-yatha devadatto 'stiti.
NAV 29.28 (p. 473) tad-vyavacchedäbkipravena prastuta-väkya-prayogat, prayoktr-abhiprayadi-sapekṣatayaiva dhvaneh svårtha-pratipadana-samarthyar, and NAT 29 ad loc: prayoktr-abhiprayaditi. ädi-sabdát sanketäd-grahaḥ
SOME REMARKS ON THE NAYA METHOD index, 7
utterance
63
truth-value
No utterance is simply cither true or false. In order to ascertain its truth-value one has to ascribe it to its specific viewpoint type, that supplies the contextual information which is lacking. In this model all meaningful context-indicators (intermediary parameters) are comprised under the index i. The utterance yields. truth or falsehood depending on the adequate interpretation of its context which is determined by means of indexation.
Accordingly, we have the following model of the context-based interpretation of the utterances o, B. y... that belong to a class of formulas:
J = <D.I.A>
In the model, D is the domain of admissible interpretations, i.e. a class of conceivable individuals denotable by the utterances a, B, y...; I is a class of indices i, or context-indicators; A comprises i-indexed classes of actual denotata.
The truth-value of any i-interpreted utterance a depends on the actual context represented by indices, or nayas, of the class I in the interpretation, and the paradigm index comprises the following co-ordinates:
i=<c,a,l,l,e,s>
In the formula, the variable e designates the subsets of meanings belonging to the general class CED of all possible denotata of utterances a, B, y... The variable a is an element of the class C (viz. a particular individual of the class C). The variable is the point of time of reference (usually the present moment of 'now', which is steadily changing along the time axis). The variable I is the prevalent linguistic convention in accordance with which utterances a, B, y... are pronounced and understood. The variable e indicates etymology and other verbal means of expression, such as prevalent convention, relevant for the proper understanding both of apparent synonyms a, B, y... and of the difference between them based on etymology etc. The variables stands for the present status of the individual that is the denotatum of a, B. y...; in other words, s refers to present condition in which the referent actually manifests the quality by which it is being referred to by a, B. y...
