The Enigma Of The Universe : Comparison

Now, if we compare Kant’s view with the Jain view, we find that both of them agree in the fact that the external objects do exist independently of the percipient. According to Jain Philosophical view, each of the material things, whether it be in the form of an atom (the ultimate particle) or in the form of an object composed of a number of atoms, possesses the four essential attributes viz., touch, taste, odour and colour. These attributes are objective, and hence, their existence does not depend upon the percipient. Now, when a percipient perceives any object by his senses and on account of the limitation of his sensory power of perception, if he cannot comprehend the object as it is, it does not mean that the natural structure of the object has changed. It is believed that every visible substance is composed of infinite number of ultimate atoms, and consequently, all colours exist in it objectively. But it is not always possible for us to perceive all the colours existing in a thing. For example, when we see a large black bee, though it has all the five colours, it appears to us only black. This happens on account of the limitation of the potency of our sensory equipments. By extra-sensory-perception, it is possible to comprehend all the colours possessed by the black bee. In technical terminology used in Jain philosophy, it is said that black bee possesses all the five colours from the point of view of niścaya naya (absolute standpoint), while only one black colour from the point of view of ‘vyavahāra naya’ (empirical standpoint).^[1] Now, comparing this with Kant’s philosophy, we can say that “phenomenon“ represents the object from the “empirical standpoint“, while “thing-in itself“ represents it from the “absolute standpoint“.