Ancient Jain Philosophy Offers Fresh Lens on Modern Ethical Debates
Scholars are reviving Jain epistemology—a 2,500-year-old system of knowledge rooted in nonviolence—to address contemporary crises in animal welfare, environmental ethics, and epistemic fairness. The framework suggests that how we know things is inseparable from how we treat living systems, with implications for corporate ethics, environmental policy, and institutional reform.
Originaltitel: Jain Epistemology and Nonviolence
Jainism is one of the three major Indian Dharma doctrines, along with Hinduism and Buddhism. These three teachings show both similarities and important differences. This chapter presents the main features of Jainism, with an emphasis on some important parts of its epistemology and its relationship to nonviolence (ahimsa) as interpreted by Western and Indian academic scholars. By way of background, Jain ontology—including Jainism’s soteriology and understanding of nature—is described. Moreover, insights into Jainism’s historical development and its organizational and social structure are given. At a general level, Jain epistemology focuses on the knowing subject’s situation within a soteriological metaphysics of reincarnation, karma, and liberation from further incarnations. In addition, debates—especially concerning the relationships between Jain epistemology, nonviolence, nature, and ecology—are described. Finally, suggestions are offered for how Jain ideas about epistemology and ahimsa might contribute to current discussions on epistemological violence, animal welfare, and ecology.