What is the rational response when confronted with a set of propositions each of which we have some reason to accept, and yet which taken together form an inconsistent class? This was, in a nutshell, the problem addressed by the Jaina logicians of classical India, and the solution they gave is, I think, of great interest, both for what it tells us about the relationship between rationality and consistency, and for what we can learn about the logical basis of philosophical (...) pluralism. The Jainas claim that we can continue to reason in spite of the presence of inconsistencies, and indeed construct a many-valued logical system tailored to the purpose. My aim in this paper is to offer a new interpretation of that system and to try to draw out some of its philosophical implications. (shrink)

The work has aimed throughout at a comparative treatment of the problems.

An attempt to determine the meaning and contents of the notion of dravya and distinguish between the two concepts of guna and paryaya. Cursorily also discusses notions of realtivity, continuity, divisibilty and negation. It presents an analytical account and a critical estimation of the methods of knowledge with an investigation into the nature and the logical evolution of the theory of manifoldness (anekantavada). The work has aimed throughout at a comparative treatment of the problems. Effort has been made to avoid (...) strained and far-fetched comparisons and contrasts and to treat criticisms and controversies in a constructive spirit. (shrink)

The last work of the eminent philosopher Bimal Krishna Matilal, this book traces the origins of logical theory in India.

In a paper on the logical work of the Jains, Graham Priest considers a consequence relation, semantically characterized, which has a natural analogue in modal logic. Here we give a syntactic/axiomatic description of the modal formulas which are consequences of the empty set by this relation, which is to say: those formulas which are, for every model, true at some point in that model.

Jaina philosophy provides a very distinctive account of logic, based on the theory of ?sevenfold predication?. This paper provides a modern formalisation of the logic, using the techniques of many-valued and modal logic. The formalisation is applied, in turn, to some of the more problematic aspects of Jaina philosophy, especially its relativism.

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