Truthfulness and Truth in Jaina Philosophy

Flügel, Peter

Abstract

Truthfulness and truth are not clearly distinguished in Jaina scriptures. A maxim of speaking the truth is stated in the so-called “satya-mahāvrata”, which Jain ascetics recite twice a day during their obligatory pratikramaṇa ritual. In accordance with the preferred Jain method of negative determination, the general principle of truthful speech is treated in terms of its characteristic violations, aticāra, that is, as the opposite of speaking non-truth, a-satya. Normative principles such as this are constitutive for Jain discourse to the extent that they are used by speech communities, both to generate and to interpret speech. The precise implications of the maxim of truthfulness for language usage are specified in form of a distinction of four types or ‘species’ of speech, bhāsā-jāya <bhāṣā-jāta>, which are at the centre of the Jain theory of discourse, supplemented by context-sensitive rules for proper ways of speaking, and examples. These analytical categories should be known and utilised by mendicants (ideally by all Jains) to prevent both the preparation and performance of violence, ārambha. They are investigated in this article from the perspective of comparative philosophy.

Citation

Flügel, P. (2010). Truthfulness and Truth in Jaina Philosophy. Anusandhan patrika - Vijnana Parishad, 50(2), 166-218

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Apr 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Apr 7, 2010
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 23, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 50
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 166-218
• Keywords: Jaina discourse ethics, modes of speech, bhāsā-jāya <bhāṣā-jāta>, tetra-lemma (catuṣ-koṭi), conversational implicature, Grice, Habermas
• Additional Information: Additional Information : This article is a slightly amended extract of a chapter of my essay ‘Power and Insight in Jaina Discourse’, published in Logic and Belief in Indian Philosophy, ed. Piotr BALCEROWICZ, 85-217. Warsaw: Oriental Institute (Warsaw Indological Studies, Vol. 3) / Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas, 2010. It is republished here, with permission of the editor, as an offering in memory of Muni Jambūvijayajī.; Publisher: Kalikālasarvajña Śrī Hemacandrācarya Navama Janmaśatābdī Smṛti Saṃskāra Śikṣananidhi Ahmadabād