Reflections on Stereotyped Ways of Seeing and an Introduction to ‘Anekant’
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54097/ijeh.v7i3.5861Keywords:
Stereotypes, Anekant, Preconceptions, Perspectives.Abstract
This essay is inspired by Ways of Seeing, by John Berger, 2008. The photo essays in the book have led to this essay’s focus on preconceptions and stereotypes. Stereotypes are formed just at the moment ‘seeing’ is taking place, and the possession of prior knowledge is mainly effective in such stereotype formation, even when people are viewing the unknown, a stereotype is working to classify and categorize the unknown into the known, the unfamiliar into the familiar, thus, a deviation from the truth (assuming there is an objective truth or relative truth, which means a fuller vision) occurs. Anekant (an idea in Jainism) is introduced as a possible solution to stereotyped thinking. Instead of cancelling out other opinions, the main teaching of Anekant is to smartly collaborate with every different viewpoint to have a fuller vision and to be nearer to the objective truth.
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References
Berger, J. (2008). Ways of seeing. Penguin UK.
Cardwell, M. (2014). Dictionary of psychology. Routledge.
McGarty, C. E., Yzerbyt, V. Y., & Spears, R. E. (2002). Stereotypes as explanations: The formation of meaningful beliefs about social groups. Cambridge University Press.
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Rankin, A. (2010). Many-Sided Wisdom. John Hunt Publishing.
Gokhale, P. (1991). The logical structure of Syādvāda. Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 8(3).
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