In Some Ways: Syādvāda as the Synthesis of Anekāntavāda and Nayavāda in Akalaṅka’s Philosophical Treatises

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between the theory of many-sidedness (anekāntavāda), the theory of viewpoints (nayavāda), and the theory of sevenfold conditional predication (syādvāda) in the philosophical monographs of the Jaina philosopher Akalaṅka (c. 720-780 CE). Despite being celebrated as novel Jaina contributions to Indian philosophy, the mutual relationship between these three theories is poorly understood. Do these three theories represent three distinct frameworks with distinct purposes? Or do these three theories ultimately synthesise to form a single unified framework? Through a careful study of the Laghīyastraya and the Nyāyaviniścaya, this paper shows how Akalaṅka understands syādvāda as the central organising framework for integrating the theory of many-sidedness and the theory of viewpoints. On the one hand, syādvāda is analysed as the synthesis of multiple viewpoints because each of the seven conditional predications, when taken individually, represents a genuine viewpoint. On the other hand, the seven conditional predications of syādvāda, when taken collectively and iterated with respect to different characteristics, represent the linguistic formalisation of many-sided (anekānta) Jaina ontology. This paper shows how syādvāda as the grand synthesis of the theory of many-sidedness and the theory of viewpoints creates new possibilities as well as new problems within Akalaṅka’s philosophical system.