"Many Facets of Truth in South Asian Logic: A Nonviolent Approach to Divergent Views"
Dr. Jeffery Long, Carl W. Zeigler Professor of Religion, Philosophy, & Asian Studies / Elizabethtown College
Tuesday April 28, 2-3:20pm / Krieger Hall 200E (enter at bridge level)
Parking in UCI, Lot 7 (Use ParkbyPlate app)
This is an in-person talk only. Please RSVP to join here.
Description: In the varied streams of South Asian/Indian religious philosophies, the Jain tradition added a new dimension through the doctrine of "non-one-sided view" (anekānta-vāda), popularly represented by blind sages feeling different parts of an elephant while failing to perceive the entire complex creature. The task of synthesizing multiple perspectives through anekānta-vāda became a demanding methodology by which to conceptually defeat philosophical rivals, demonstrate co-existent complexity, while obligating practitioners to seek alternate views and seven-fold conditions for making relative, but not relativistic, truth claims. In this talk, Dr. Long will explore "non-one-sided view" historically, philosophically and in contemporary applications.