A Many-Sided Brain: The Jain Approach to Studying Consciousness

Science, by definition, is an open-ended approach to understand how the world works by observation, experimentation, and modeling. But underlining this human process is our ability to be wrong, to be corrected, and to change our views over time. As such, science invites contravening ideas that can compete with each other. This allows for its progressive nature, since we can then determine which hypothesis better describes a given phenomenon and its range of behavior. While Francis Bacon (1561–1626) is often regarded as the first Western thinker to properly codify what is commonly known today as the scientific method, it may come as a surprise to learn that Jain philosophy, which dates back to before the sixth century BCE, has three core beliefs that are contributive and elemental for any budding scientist: Anekāntavāda (अनेकान्तवाद), Syādvāda (स्याद्वाद), and Ahimsā (अहिंसा). These three core concepts of Jainism, I would suggest, are also – at least in some measure – part and parcel of a progressive scientific mind. In this chapter, we will be taking a Jainist approach to the current study of consciousness. Our goal is to survey the most viable theories on how and why self-awareness evolved and see what their respective strengths and weaknesses are.