#philosophyblr

Oh you're a Jain? And you like elephant allegories? Here's another one. Since you're a Jain, surely you know this one by heart. 

It's an example to demonstrate one of the three core tenets of Jainism: anekantavada. It translates to "no-one-perspective-ism", which asserts that reality is multifaceted, that no single human perspective can capture the absolute truth. Basically, all humans are blind, and they perceive the reality based on what they are accustomed to, therefore the truth is relative to the viewpoint and context from which it is observed.

I'm astika myself. Arsheya Astika logicians have refuted anekantavada and its logical system syadavada, for example the nyaya argument is that if all judgments are merely conditional or "partial truths" (syat), then no definitive, reliable knowledge (pramana) can exist. Even for kevaladvaitin astikas, even when there's maya, there's still one absolute truth in the paramarthika satya, that is eternal Brahman and atman, and this is what Jainas don't believe in which is why Jainas are also philosophically nastikas, like the Buddhists. Speaking of which, two of the core tenets of Bauddha philosophy are kshanikavada -everything is momentary, and anicca -impermanence. Jainas believe that jivas are permanent. Bauddha philosopher Shantarakshita argued that if in Jaina philosophy, a jiva is "permanent" as a substance but "changing" in its modes, it effectively means it disappears and reappears every second, which is a "logical contradiction". Another Bauddha philosopher, Dharmakirti, was far more crude, he called the Jainas shameless (ahrikah) for holding views that he believed destroyed all linguistic and conceptual boundaries, making communication impossible. Jaina philosophers, such as Akalanka, had their counter arguments to nyaya critique. Although I'm astika myself, I respect Jaina philosophers, and as an intellectual, philosophical tradition that made astikas sharper too. These philosophical debates in ancient India is what made ancient India the kind of prosperous and advanced society back when most of the world was uncivilised.

I have only seen on twitter by some edgelord Jain traditionalists that they are bitter against Hindus for the Girnar dispute, which is, apparently, a conflict between Jain and Hindu communities over the ownership and worship rights on Mount Girnar in Gujarat. The dispute focuses on the 5th peak, which Jains consider the Nirvana place of Neminath (22nd Tirthankara), while Hindus worship the site as the footprint of Lord Dattatreya. Those Jain edgelords also boast that it was Tirthankara Neminatha who imparted the wisdom that Krishna later shared with Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, and that both Krishna and Arjuna went to naraka for the Kurukshetra war, but Krishna was commuted from the lowest hell to an upper hell because he devoted himself to Jain monks. To this, some online Hindu edgelords have boasted about the Koon Pandiyan incident (a hagiographic legend where a Tamil Shaiva king converted the Jain Pandiyan king to Shaivism and impaled 8,000 Jain monks), or that Basavanna's followers killed Shwetambar Jains. Basavanna's followers are Veerashaivas, or Lingayats, by the way. Gauri Lankesh was a Lingayat and advocated throughout her life that Lingayats be legally separated from Hinduism :). The Hindu online traditionalists also say how the aforementioned was a reaction to the Kalabhra rule. You have to understand that these incidents in South India are purely hagiographic tales, with little to no evidence that they actually happened. The real life disputes are mostly about the Girnar and maybe about Jain disapproval of some Hindu practices, such as pashubali, and vice versa. Otherwise, there's only been co-existence in harmony.

Jains are considered the wealthiest group in India with high economic, cultural and social capital. I can't for the life of me understand what you are bitter about against Hindus. Has there ever been any indication that the Republic of India is oppressing you? Has the Modi government told you that they will trample you like grass? Jains are a notified religious minority, they possess certain specific constitutional protections that are not available to Hindus. According to the Article 30(1), Jains have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice. This provides them with greater autonomy than Hindu-run institutions, for example, Jain institutions can reserve up to 50% of seats for Jains. Unaided minority-run institutions are exempt from state-mandated reservation policies for SC/ST/OBC categories. Jain institutions have more freedom in appointing staff and determining their own syllabi, subject to state regulations for academic standards too. Jains are also eligible for various Central and State government welfare programs specifically earmarked for minorities, such as scholarships (pre-matric, post-matric), subsidized loans for education, and specialized coaching for competitive exams, despite generally being the wealthiest group in India.

I'm abandoning the productivity challenge.

Doesn't mean i'm not trying to be productive; i try almost everyday and have succeeded quite a few times. But my d3pr3ss1on and anemia make me not be able to commit to a challenge like that right now.

My life has changed a lot recently, and it will change even more in a couple of months (for the better!) My bf got indo a Master's program in France and we're moving there together. I still need to write my dissertation which i'll defend around march 2027. And after this is done I'd like to spend a year working, be it a 9am-5pm. I do not have the strength to follow up with a phD.

anyways, let's go to the good things I achieved these past months:

read Dawn of the Reaping (loved it! devoured the book in a few days)

finally started diving into Freud's Psychology of the Masses

sent my project to my professor

watched many movies and went to lots of cool places!

So you stay awake. You hold your center.

Salutations to all who know me or do not. For a supposed fan of history, information and archives, I don’t keep a very coherent record of myself and my interests. No matter, for I shall now arrange and disseminate these disparate facts into a body of knowledge, as befits a woman of my personality and profession!

purpose :

This is primarily a historyblr/studyblr/writeblr account. I like to make reading lists for my favourite research topics! Follow if you think I or anything I say is interesting, I enjoy discussion and am very friendly.

history / academic-ish interests :

- Favourite themes in History: gender, religion and Empire. I like learning about the Islamicate (Abbasids and Ottomans mainly) the Soviet project, and the various German polities.

- Honing in on the Interwar period right now!

- I like to look at interesting black women figures in a transnational (across the nations), transtemporal (across the ages) way. Hagar, Barakah bint Tha'laba, Octavia Butler and Diane Abbott occupy and rule over the same realm of my mind. It’s also why I call myself a drudge and biomass in a loving and reclaiming way.

fandom-y interests:

- I like anime and manga. Favourites include: Black Lagoon, Otoyomegatari, Asobi Asobase, Maria Holic, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes. I want to get into Golden Kamuy soon.

- I also like Western animation. Favourites include: Moral Orel, Gravity Falls, Infinity Train and Inside Job.

writing / writeblr stuff:

- Most of what I read and write can be slotted into the speculative / sci fi / historical genres. Character driven books about crazy, minoritised people capture my imagination! Favourites include: Earthlings, Woman at Point Zero, Native Son, From A Crooked Rib and The Street. I want to read Heart of Darkness soon. I have pretty comprehensive reading lists for all of these genres under the tag ‘reading list’.

- The writing I do on archives is mostly an exploration and exercise of ideas. It will likely be useful in future if I conduct research and practice in the field but as of yet, it is recreational, not vocational. It’s also good to figure out niches now, and what type or period of records I’d like to focus on.

politics / philosophy :