A Comparative Study of the Jaina Theories of Reality and Knowledge

Bibliographic Details

Title: A Comparative Study of the Jaina Theories of Reality and Knowledge

Author: Y. J. Padmarajiah

Foreword: Erich Frauwallner

Series: Lala Sunder Lal Jain Research Series, Volume 2

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass

Place of Publication: Delhi, India

Publication Year: 2004

Originally Published: Jain Sahitya Vikas Mandal, 1963

Language: English

Format: Hardcover

Pagination: x + 423 pages

ISBN-10: 81-208-0036-2

ISBN-13: 978-81-208-0036-6

Description

A Comparative Study of the Jaina Theories of Reality and Knowledge is a systematic examination of Jaina ontology and epistemology in relation to other Indian philosophical traditions. Y. J. Padmarajiah analyzes the Jaina understanding of reality as a coordinated unity of identity and difference and compares it with Buddhist, Vedāntic, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika and other approaches to permanence, change and plurality.

The first part examines the nature of reality. It considers competing philosophical accounts of identity and difference, the structure of relations, causal efficiency and the nature of substance. Particular attention is given to the Jaina concepts of dravya, guṇa and paryāya and to the distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic attributes.

The second part studies the Jaina theories of knowledge associated with anekāntavāda, nayavāda and syādvāda. Padmarajiah traces the logical development of the doctrine of manifoldness, analyzes the theory of standpoints and examines the system of conditional predication through which Jaina philosophers sought to express the complexity of reality.

The work combines close analysis of Jaina philosophical sources with sustained comparison across Indian and Western philosophical traditions. Its treatment of substance, relation, plurality, perspective and predication makes it an important research resource for Jaina studies, Indian philosophy, comparative philosophy, metaphysics, epistemology and the history of logic.

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