NDLI: Siddhasena Mahāmati and Akalaṅka Bhaṭṭa: A Revolution in Jaina Epistemology

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Balcerowicz, Piotr
Copyright Year	2015
Abstract	Two eight-century Jaina contemporaries, a Śvetāmbara philosopher Siddhasena Mahāmati and a Digambara Akalaṅka Bhaṭṭa revolutionised Jaina epistemology, by radically transforming basic epistemological concepts, which had been based on canonical tradition. The paper presents a brief historical outline of the developments of basic epistemological concepts in Jaina philolosophy such as the cognitive criterion (pramāṇa) and logical faculties (upayoga) as well as their fourteen typological models which serve as the backdrop of important innovations in epistemology introduced by Siddhasena, Pātrasvāmin and Akalaṅka. An important contribution of these Jaina thinkers was to economize Indian logic and the rules of inference, first, by devising only one kind of logical reason called ‘inexplicability otherwise’ (anyathânupapatti, anyathânupapannatva), based on the single inseparable connection (avinâbhāva) of the proving property (sādhana) with the inferable property (sādhya), and, second, by limiting the necessary number of the members (avayava) of the proof formula (prayoga) merely to two. These two innovations were related to the thinkers’ intention to devise a logic which would not primarily be based on empirical verification (intensional logic) but its structural patterns would be valid irrespective of external observation (beginnings of extentional logic). Further, the paper focuses on the nature of the epistemological shifts which Siddhasena and Akalaṅka introduced independently of each other and on the question how Siddhasena’s and Akalaṅka’s ideas were partly anchored in Buddhist concepts of the pramāṇa school of Diṅnāga and Dharmakīrti. With the Buddhist background, Siddhasena sought to define the criteria essential to distinguish true from false cognitions and to provide a novel classification of the pramāṇas. He can further be accredited with formulating the first Jaina descriptive definition of the cognitive criterion (pramāṇa). The final section of the paper explains how Akalaṅka applies novel epistemological ideas, first, to construct realistic ontology and objectivity of both the external world and the cognising subject, and, secondly, to combat fundamental Buddhist concepts such as idealism and momentariness.
Starting Page	993
Ending Page	1039
Page Count	47
File Format	PDF
ISSN	00221791
Journal	Journal of Indian Philosophy
Volume Number	44
Issue Number	5
e-ISSN	15730395
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Netherlands
Publisher Date	2015-10-14
Publisher Place	Dordrecht
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Jainism Buddhism epistemology logic pramāṇa philosophy of language Non-Western Philosophy Philosophy of Religion Religious Studies
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Philosophy Cultural Studies

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1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
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