Description
Book SynopsisIn Jain Approaches to Plurality Melanie Barbato offers a new perspective on the Jain teaching of plurality (anekāntavāda) and how it allowed Jains to engage with other discourses from Indian inter-school philosophy to global interreligious dialogue. Jainism, one of the world’s oldest religions, has managed to both adapt and preserve its identity across time through its inherently dialogical outlook. Drawing on a wide range of textual sources and original research in India, Barbato analyses the encounters between Jains and non-Jains in the classical, colonial and global context. Jain Approaches to Plurality offers a comprehensive introduction to anekāntavāda as a non-Western resource for understanding plurality and engaging in dialogue. “Building upon earlier work in this field without simply reduplicating it, Melanie Barbato’s work delves deeply into the question of the relevance of Jain approaches to religious and philosophical diversity to contemporary issues of inter-religious dialogue, and dialogues across worldviews more generally. (…) This work is a most welcome contribution to the conversation.” — Jeffery D. Long, Professor of Religion and Asian Studies, Elizabethtown College. April 2017. Author of Jainism: An Introduction.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements 1 Introduction: Identity in Changing Times The Historical Development of Anekāntavāda First Stage: Discourse within the Jain Community Second Stage: Indian Inter-school Discourse Third Stage: Colonial Discourse Fourth Stage: Global Discourse The Structure of the Book 2 Who are the Jains? A Community between Indian Tradition and Global Modernity The Fordmakers Beliefs and Worship Puṇya and Pāpa The Historical Development of Jainism Conclusion 3 Jains in Inner-indian Dialogue The Schools of Indian Philosophy The Historical Development of Jain Philosophy The Classical Concept of Anekāntavāda Plurality in Jain Ontology Indian Ontologies An Ontology of Organic Plurality Origination, Destruction and Persistence Substance, Qualities and Modifications The Complex Union of Reality Classical Applications Universals Relations Cause and Effect The Nature of the Soul Plurality in Jain Discursive Logic Logic in India The Nyāya Inference Model The Aim of Indian Logic Jain Logic: Every Statement is Conditional Sevenfold Predication Yaśovijaya’s Interpretation of the Saptabhaṅgī Śankara’s Criticism of Jain Logic Jain Logic, Nyāya Logic, Western Logic Plurality and Perfect Knowledge Jain Soteriology The Stages of Knowledge Limited Knowledge: The View-points False Views and Absolutism What the Omniscient Know Plurality in the Light of Omniscience Kundakunda’s Two Viewpoints Conclusion 4 Plurality in Modern Jain Dialogues Tolerance and Interreligious Dialogue The World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago Indian Inclusivism The Limits of Jain Tolerance Gandhi and Shrimad Rajchandra Anekāntavāda as Intellectual Non-violence Anekāntavāda as Relativism Identity, Values and Doctrine Jainism in Dialogue with Science The Historical Context A Scientific Religion? Jainism as Scientific Theory Jain Diplomacy Jain Environmental Activism Acharya Sushil Kumar and Religious Diplomacy Conclusion 5 Jain Dialogic Identity – Then and Now Anekāntavāda between Philosophy and Rhetorics Four Understandings of anekāntavāda A Philosophical Understanding of anekāntavāda A Conservative Modern Understanding of anekāntavāda A Modernist Understanding of anekāntavāda A Lay Orthodox Understanding of anekāntavāda Who Speaks for anekāntavāda? Conclusion Bibliography
