Volume 13, 2018
Existential Philosophy
Samani Chaityaprajna
Pages 5-11
Existential Phenomenology and Jainism with Special Reference to Svaparaprakāśakatva in Jaina Epistemology and Existential Phenomenology in Sartre’s Philosophy
Whether in the field of metaphysics or in that of epistemology, Jaina thinkers outlined their views in a manner which can be seen to have parallels in thinking of modern and postmodern philosophers. Each particular line of thinking has its own peculiarities which make it somewhat unique. These peculiarities always constitute the points of disagreement between one view with the other. The present study is a trial to study two streams, i.e. Jainism and Sartre in the light of each other in terms of their similarities and differences regarding intentionality. After describing the concept of svaparaprakāśakatva (self and other revealing nature) of knowledge in Jainism and intentionality in Sartre’s philosophy and their analysis, of the major areas of differences and similarities between both the streams are speculated. The study concludes that Jaina philosophers have already broken new grounds in the field of epistemology through their conception of svaparaprakāśakatva long before Sartre; and further, despite of the basic underlying differences in concept of intentionality and Jain epistemology, the svaparaprakāśakatva can very well be shown to square with Sartres’s conception of positional and non-positional awareness.