Ethos and logos of the Jain thought and practice （world view） is based on reality perceived by senses. Atheistic roots of Jain Dharm have nourished growth, maintained viability and vitality, and kept it relevant for...Ethos and logos of the Jain thought and practice （world view） is based on reality perceived by senses. Atheistic roots of Jain Dharm have nourished growth, maintained viability and vitality, and kept it relevant for over the last five millennia. Unlike Judeo-Christian-Islam or Brahminical faith, it does not rely on omniscient supreme or god. Its atheistic and anti-theistic thrust is generally known, yet its followers do not call themselves Nastik （non-believers）. They emphasize action-consequence relations as guide for successful behaviors with ethical conduct. The basis of their arguments follows from the Jain logic （Saptbhangi Syad Nay） of evidence based inference with multiple orthogonal affirmed assertions （Jain 2011）. It conserves information by acknowledging the remaining doubt in an inference. It does not assume binary complementation to force closure for deduction with incomplete knowledge which leads to self-reference and loss of information. This approach offers a rational and practical alternative to conundrum of western atheism even though its arguments are logical and consistent with available evidence. It also obviates need to extract religious morality from social mores. Objective truth and knowledge of established generalizations is necessary but not sufficient for subjective searches to shape desires and for what the future ought to be.展开更多
文摘Ethos and logos of the Jain thought and practice （world view） is based on reality perceived by senses. Atheistic roots of Jain Dharm have nourished growth, maintained viability and vitality, and kept it relevant for over the last five millennia. Unlike Judeo-Christian-Islam or Brahminical faith, it does not rely on omniscient supreme or god. Its atheistic and anti-theistic thrust is generally known, yet its followers do not call themselves Nastik （non-believers）. They emphasize action-consequence relations as guide for successful behaviors with ethical conduct. The basis of their arguments follows from the Jain logic （Saptbhangi Syad Nay） of evidence based inference with multiple orthogonal affirmed assertions （Jain 2011）. It conserves information by acknowledging the remaining doubt in an inference. It does not assume binary complementation to force closure for deduction with incomplete knowledge which leads to self-reference and loss of information. This approach offers a rational and practical alternative to conundrum of western atheism even though its arguments are logical and consistent with available evidence. It also obviates need to extract religious morality from social mores. Objective truth and knowledge of established generalizations is necessary but not sufficient for subjective searches to shape desires and for what the future ought to be.
