Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Volume XIV: Jain Philosophy (Part II)

The introductory essay, “Some Remarks on the Nyāya Method,” concentrates especially on the Jain doctrines of anekāntavāda, syādvāda, and nayavāda. It explains how Jain thinkers developed a theory of multiple viewpoints in order to account for the complex and many-sided character of reality. Seven principal nayas or viewpoints are discussed, ranging from comprehensive and collective perspectives to empirical, etymological, and contextual approaches. The analysis shows how conditional predication and perspectival description permit apparently contradictory propositions to be reconciled within a broader logical framework.

Part Two presents summaries of a large corpus of Jain texts and authors, including Śivāśarman, Devagupta Sūri, Padmasiṃha, Prabhācandra, Vidyāsūri, Pradyumna Sūri, Jineśvara, Abhayadeva Sūri, Śānti Sūri, Anantavīrya, Subhacandra, Nemicandra Sūri, Jinavallabha Sūri, Yaśodeva Sūri, Jinadāsa Gaṇi, Municandra Sūri, and others. Major themes include liberation, meditation, omniscience, karma, perception, inference, fallacies, debate, ascetic discipline, ontology, and the Jain path to spiritual perfection.

• Table of Contents – Main Sections

  • Contributors

  • Part One: Introduction — Some Remarks on the Nyāya Method

  • Part Two: Summaries of Works — Arranged Chronologically

  • Endnotes

  • Bibliography

  • Glossary-Index