Book Title: Study of Jainism
Author(s): T G Kalghatgi
Publisher: Prakrit Bharti Academy

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 136
________________ Jaina Logic & Epistemology 121 J. B. S. Haldane has made, in this paper, an elaborate and critical analysis of the sevenfold predication of the Jainas with reference to the statistical study of the physiological problems of sense organs. He shows that he has come to conclusions similar to those of Bhadrabahu. And he says, 'No doubt we reached it by different methods, Bhadrabahu by meditation, I, by thinking about the results of concrete experiments on animals'. It is unrealistic to pretend that ancient philosophers anticipated all modern intellectual developments. And I believe that we, today, can do more honour to their memories by thinking for ourselves, as they did, than by devoting our lives to commentaries on them. But if we do so, it is our duty to point out cases where it turns out that our own thought has run parallel to theirs. Professor N. Umakantha, Department of Physics, Karnatak University, Dharwar, has prepared a paper on the epistemological significance of Syadvada with special reference to the theory of probability. In that paper he has made use of a new concept “Represental” in addition to the particular denoting an individual and the universal connoting the universal signifying the particulars of the same class. Man is a universal. Mr. Smith is a particular. “Our main point is that in statistical analysis (and in the theory of probability) we need a new kind of abstraction which we call “represental". With reference to vision, for instance, Man has different possible states of vision. A particular man, Mr. Jones, for instance, has only one of these states of vision at any time. In between these there is an intermediate level of cognition of which we are not interested in which particular man has which state of vision but only in the number of men having different states of vision. This is statistical analysis. Prof. Umakantha considers that with the concept of the represental' whose epistemological status is in between a particular and the universal Syadvada becomes the foundation of epistemology. The synoptic presentation of reality by Syadvada gives a true picture of reality in all its aspects and that is the essence of the Jaina outlook, which helps to remove the intellectual cobwebs arising out of ekanta. The Syadvada of the Jainas affirms that a thing is never destroyed; and that which is not, never comes into 16 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252