In One Respect, Yes

Jain thinkers taught that reality has many sides, and a single sentence catches one. Their method, syadvada, adds a small word to claims: in some respect. The old story of blind men describing an elephant shows why. One feels a leg and says pillar, another an ear and says fan. Each is right about a part.

In daily talk, flat claims start fights. “The new office is good” and “it is bad” can both be true: good for light, bad for noise. Naming the respect shows where people actually agree and differ.

The method does not say everything is true. A claim can still be wrong in the respect named. It asks us to specify how, so that disagreement is about something definite.

Is the new library good?

Tia and Ben argue about the town’s new library. She says it is great, he says it is awful, and each is growing angry.

A friend asks, “In what respect?” Tia means the light and the view. Ben means the noise and the long walk. Once the respects are named, they see that both are right, and they agree to ask for quiet hours.

Try this today Rewrite one flat claim you made today as “in one respect yes, in another no.”