Intellectual Aparigraha and Democracy

Please join the Jain Studies Program at the University of North Texas for a lecture by Dr. Anand Vaidya (San Jose State University and UCLA) followed by a respondent from the Jain Society of North Texas. 

Critical thinking is a central goal of education and a key component of a functioning democracy. At present, dominant critical thinking pedagogies are centered on a Eurocentric model that actively and blatantly ignores contributions to logic and critical thinking education from non-Western sources. More importantly, the model implicitly sends the message to students that this valuable set of skills derives from what is taken to be Western culture. The cross-cultural critical thinking movement, by contrast, is centered on a globally inclusive model that presents contributions to critical thinking from a variety of different cultures and traditions. Such an understanding of critical thinking as part of the human condition is essential to the proper deployment of critical thinking in a pluralistic society where there is disagreement over matters of ultimate value. In this lecture, Dr. Vaidya offers a defense of a set of contributions to critical thinking deriving from the Jaina tradition of philosophy. The central concepts presented and interpreted are: non-one-sidedness (anekāntavāda), the theory of epistemic standpoints (nayavāda), intellectual non-violence (intellectual ahiṃsā), and the theory of seven-fold predication (saptabhaṅgī). In each case we explore the relevance of the concept to inclusive education as well as democratic life.

• 3:00 Opening Remarks
• 3:15 Lecture and Response
• 4:30 Q&A
• 5:00 Refreshments

The lecture will be in Room 130 of the Environmental Education, Science, and Technology Building at 1704 W. Mulberry St., Denton, TX 76201. Street parking is readily available on Saturdays, and a limited number of parking passes can be provided for the blue lot FS 11 on the campus map.

Programming in Jain Studies at UNT is made possible by the generosity of the Jain Education and Research Foundation and the continued support of the Jain Society of North Texas and the UNT Department of Philosophy and Religion.

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