The Enigma Of The Universe : Contrast

Nevertheless, there remains an essential difference in the two philosophies regarding the concept of “the object” and “the percipient.”^[1] Kant believes that the objective structure thing-in-itself-can never be known by man, whereas Jain philosophy asserts that through extra-sensory-perception, it is possible to know it. According to Kant, it is only the percipient, who is responsible for the nature of the perceived thing, whereas Jain philosophy repudiates the idea that a change in the objective nature of the thing is caused by the percipient. In Kant’s philosophy, that which is perceived is considered to be quite different from that which is “to-be perceived” and, also, the percipient plays the prominent role; while the Jain philosophy does not consider the perceived or known thing to be objectively different from the “thing to be known”. According to it, the difference which is created between the thing-in-itself and thing-in-perception is partly due to the limitation of sensory power and partly due to the intervention of sensory equipments, and not owing to the change in the objective properties of the object. The Jain philosophy believes in independent objective existences of both the percipient as well as the object.