Jiva

MIND, MATTER AND GOD : JIVA, JADA AND ISVARA
M.M.NINAN
As a warning against the assumption that present theories are the final word, here are
two quotes from The Riddle of the Universe, by Ernst Haeckel, 1899.
‘The existence of ether (or cosmic ether) as a real element is a positive fact, and has
been known as such for the last twelve years.’
‘ … all the particular advances in physics and chemistry yield in theoretical importance
to the discovery of the great law which brings them to one common focus, the “Law of
Substance.” As this fundamental cosmic law established the eternal persistence of
matter and force, their unvarying constancy throughout the entire universe…’
And a few years later, Einstein would come and blow it all away! Science, and thus
also the Philosophy of Science, should always be open to revise its views and qualify its
claims.
Hempel’s Ravens Paradox
The philosopher Carl G. Hempel, in his1965 essay “Studies in the Logic of Confirmation,”
brought to light a central paradox in the scientific method as it is commonly understood.
The problem is with inductive reasoning, and Hempel’s example was as follows: Suppose
you see a raven, and you note that it is black. “Hmm,” you say, “that raven was black.”
Sometime later you notice a couple more ravens, and they also are black. “What a coincidence,”
you remark, “those ravens are black too.” Time goes by and you see many more ravens. And it
happens that all the ravens you see are black. “This is beyond coincidence,” you might
reasonably think, and with the instincts of a good and observant scientist you form a
hypothesis: All ravens are black.
Black Raven
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