Book Title: Tulsi Prajna 2001 07
Author(s): Shanta Jain, Jagatram Bhattacharya
Publisher: Jain Vishva Bharati

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Page 113
________________ "The most difficult problem... concerning the use of language arises in quantum theory. Here we have at first no simple guide for correlating the mathematical symbols with concept of ordinary language; and the only thing that we know from start is the fact that our common concepts cannot be applied to the structure of the atom.” Within the atom, the electron has an anti particle called positron. But that is still conceivable because the electron has a certain charge and the positron thus could be called its anti matter because it has an opposite charge. What about the neutron that has neutral charge? Does it too have an anti particle? Writes Richard Feynman, “Every particle in nature has an amplitude to move backwards in time, and, therefore, has an antiparticle... Photons look exactly the same in all respects when they travel backwards in time.... so they are their own anti-particles.” There is an obvious distinction between a particle and its anti-particle if they are charged, because their charges are of opposite sign. The distinction is subtler if the particle and antiparticle are neutral, like the neutrino and antineutrino. Nevertheless, there really is a distinction ... the component of intrinsic spin angular momentum along the direction of motion is always negative for a neutrino and positive for an antineutrino." III Even within the world of science, the question has cropped up asking whether this is a real distinction or a perceived one. For the anti nature of the particle, in the absence of different charges, in effect, depends on the direction of the motion, but is direction an inherent property of the particle? While some people maintain that the ambiguity exists, others give reconciliatory solutions. I emphasize the fact that within the world of science too a question about real and subjective has been posed because a criticism against Anekanta is that it may be a subjective philosophy. Why? Because it takes into account the real and the unreal world in all its arguments in its theory of knowledge and places a great deal of emphasis on 'experience. The Jaina philosopher main existents are possessed of an infinite number of attributes and characteristics, which can be discovered by experience alone. Even the primal attribute of existence, which is the foundational element of the nature of an entity, is not capable of being ascertained by a priori logical considerations. Our knowledge of things and of their relations starts from experience, and reason can at best serve to organize the experienced data and build a system of thought, the elements of which together with 108 D - To 2511 310 113-114 108 Jain Education International For Private & Personal Use Only www.jainelibrary.org

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