In Search of Affinities: Knowledge and Action in Indian Thought

Abstract

In Indian Philosophy and the Consequences of Knowledge: Themes in Metaphysics and Soteriology his newly-released contribution to the fields of Indian and cross-cultural philosophy, Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad offers a collection of essays published over the past eight years exploring important ethical, epistemological, and soteriological issues in Jainism, the Brahminical darsanas, and Indian Buddhist thought. The very broadly construed theme that unifies the essays in this collection is an explication of the various uses of knowledge articulated in the Indian tradition. This explication, Ram-Prasad tells us, is about both conducting a purely intellectual study of reality and seeking some that this study is held to secure (p. xi). That the pursuit of knowledge is conceived as meaningful in classical India in order to attain some higher end is a perfectly valid focus for any study of this philosophical tradition. What makes Ram-Prasad's collection especially valuable is the clarity with which this focus is trained on fundamental and defining problems that the tradition struggles with, and how the analysis of these problems by classical Indian philosophers still holds great value for contemporary reflection and discussion. As RamPrasad himself points out, the value of studying Indian philosophy lies not merely in giving a precise linguistic and conceptual interpretation of ancient Sanskrta texts nor in constructing some abstract apologia for the genuinely philosophical character of Indian thought (p. xii). The value of Indian philosophy for us lies in understanding its continued relevance to persistent human problems and aims. Ram-Prasad's essays succeed in revealing this relevance with the characteristic felicity and svayamprakasattva, luminosity all his own, that we have come to expect from his works. The book's first essay, Multiplist Metaphysics and Ethics, recasts the fundamental Jaina philosophical notions of syadvada (conditionally), anekantavada (multiplicity), and nayavada (circumscribed schemas) in order to build a reflective and attitudinal nonviolent multiplist engagement toward the Other (p. 13). Though he follows the classical Jain authors MahavTra, Kundakunda, and Siddhasena in giving precise formulations of these concepts, Ram-Prasad repeatedly emphasizes that the goal he is after in this reconstruction is with the Other, a goal not found in the Jaina literature but one not incompatible with Jain principles (p. 43). The modern discursive context within which this search for affinity takes place