20. Prabhācandra: The Sun that Makes the Lotus of the Object of Knowledge Blossom
A Sourcebook in Global Philosophy - Mohammed Rustom
Marie-Hélène Gorisse [+]
University of Birmingham
Description
This chapter introduces the doctrine of perspectives (nayavāda) developed by Jain philosophers. Trying to make sense within a single coherent metaphysical system of the fact that what exists is at the same time persistent and subject to change is the old problem of the articulation of the one and the many. The solution that Jain philosophers brought to this issue, notably with their doctrine of perspectives, is their most celebrated contribution to South Asian philosophy. Jain philosophers claim that the object of knowledge is infinitely complex. The doctrine of perspectives provides an exhaustive classification of the relevant types of attention through which one considers this object, from the most inclusive to the most particular perspective. Building on this, they then came to explain the resisting divergences between the different philosophical systems as resulting from an initial choice of different epistemic perspectives. This chapter focuses on this doctrine as it was developed by the Jain author Prabhācandra (d. 1065 CE) in his Sun that Makes the Lotus of the Object of Knowledge Blossom (Prameyakamalamārtaṇḍa), an epistemological work that constituted a milestone for later authors as it provided an insightful account of the key inter-doctrinal philosophical issues of his age.