Jain Philosophy - Epistemology

Epistemology

Jainism made its own unique contribution to this mainstream development of philosophy by occupying itself with the basic epistemological issues, namely, with those concerning the nature of knowledge, how knowledge is derived, and in what way knowledge can be said to be reliable. Knowledge for the Jains takes place in the soul, which, without the limiting factor of karma, is omniscient. Humans have partial knowledge – the object of knowledge is known partially and the means of knowledge do not operate to their full capacity. According to Tattvārthasūtra, the knowledge of the basic Jaina truths can be obtained through:

• Pramāṇa - means or instruments of knowledge which can yield a comprehensive knowledge of an object, and
• Naya - particular standpoints, yielding partial knowledge.

Pramāṇa are of five kinds:

• mati or “sensory knowledge”,
• Sruta or “scriptural knowledge”,
• avadhi or “clairvoyance”,
• manahparyaya or “telepathy”, and
• kevala” or “omniscience”

The first two are described as being indirect means of knowledge (parokṣa), with the others furnishing direct knowledge (pratyakṣa), by which it is meant that the object is known directly by the soul. Jains came out with their doctrines of relativity used for logic and reasoning:

• Anekāntavāda - the theory of relative pluralism or manifoldness;
• Syādvāda – the theory of conditioned predication and;
• Nayavāda – The theory of partial standpoints.

These philosophical concepts have made most important contributions to the ancient Indian philosophy, especially in the areas of skepticism and relativity.