________________
148 :
śramaņa, Vol 59, No. 4/October-December 2008
incomplete—it for ever goes beyond-it is in the realm of possibilities. The variable constant theory of Jaina philosophy on the other hand depicts that consciousness is both what it is and what it is not and the ethical principles gives end to the ever-lasting chain of possibilities.
Two modes of consciousness
As already mentioned, Sartre considers all conscious episodes to posit an intentional object. Now among such intentional objects are acts of consciousness themselves can be. I might think about the Eiffel Tower and then think about this act itself "That's the first time for a week that I have recalled that day in Paris when... The first act of consciousness Act 1, which has tower as intentional object is the object is also of a further act of consciousness Act 2. This mode of self awareness he calls reflective conscious or thematic self awareness. '3
However Sartre makes an important point here that this is not the only form of self awareness we enjoy. He claims that in addition to this reflective and explicit Self consciousness which is just special case of an act of consciousness positing an intentional object, we are always at least implicitly self conscious in a special way, when we are not reflecting. Even when I was engaged in act which posited an object i.e. (Act 1) before becoming explicitly aware of itself in another act of consciousness called Act 2 Sartre would insist that Act I or the non-reflective act is implicitly aware of itself or else it will lead to infinite regress in that in order to be aware of Act 2 will require act 3. and so on. This implicit self-awareness is called non-thetic awareness or non-positional awareness. When I am aware of the object, I am also aware, though implicitly and non-thetically of my awareness of the object.14
All are therefore lucid and clear in consciousness, though the object with its characteristic of opacity is before consciousness still
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
