On the Method of Anekāntavāda and Therapeutic Philosophy

Numerous attempts have been made to apply the Jaina theory of anekāntavāda (non-one-sidedness) to issues within and outside the field of philosophy, exploring the ways in which it might contribute to a given problem. However, within the field of philosophy, except for problems in metaphysics, virtually no attention has been given to how the Jain philosophers have utilized the ‘method’ of anekāntavāda while engaging with problems of epistemology, ethics, and soteriology, even when the texts offer a rich account of the same. Such undertakings were, most of the time, simply avoided as it was considered to be beyond the purview of anekāntavāda. Consequently, the role of anekāntavāda as a therapeutic philosophy was never fully articulated. Moreover, the therapeutic value of anekāntavāda, though often proclaimed as self-evident and in need of no proof, requires a textual grounding and a critical evaluation, especially in light of the fact that therapeutic approaches can sometimes fail or have adverse effects. Taking a textual-philosophical approach that is based on a wide range of Jaina philosophical texts, and particularly Samantabhadra’s Āptamīmāṃsā (Examination of an Authority), this paper argues that as a philosophical method, anekāntavāda has a therapeutic value, in the sense that it can serve as a medicine to cure the philosophical ills of absolutism, thereby resulting in a state of tranquillity or equanimity (samatā).