Anekantavada, the Jain doctrine of non-one-sidedness, rests on the insight that reality is intrinsically many-sided and cannot be exhausted by any single description. It is not merely a call for tolerance or open-mindedness, but an ontological claim that every object or event possesses innumerable aspects, of which any given statement reveals only a part. In contrast to absolutist systems—whether non-dualistic philosophies that reduce everything to a single principle, or theologies that affirm one final and exclusive truth—this doctrine denies that any one standpoint can claim the whole of reality. At the same time, it does not dissolve into a vague pluralism; it insists that there is an objective reality, yet that reality is accessible only through partial, conditioned insights.

What sets Anekantavada apart from crude relativism is its refusal to say that all views are equally true. Each perspective is regarded as true in some respect and false in another, depending on the context, time, and aspect under consideration. This is articulated through a structured method of standpoints (naya) and the discipline of conditional predication (syadvada), where statements are framed as “from a certain standpoint, it is so.” Such a formal, logical approach to multiple perspectives is relatively rare among philosophical traditions that speak of many viewpoints but do not systematize them in this way. Truth, in this vision, is always qualified, never unconditionally absolute, yet never entirely out of reach.

Another distinctive feature is the ethical and spiritual grounding of this doctrine. Anekantavada is deeply tied to ahimsa, non-violence, extending the principle from physical action to thought and speech. Dogmatic insistence that one’s own view is the only truth is seen as a kind of intellectual violence, harming both self and others by closing off the possibility of deeper understanding. By institutionalizing epistemic humility, it encourages dialogue, restraint in judgment, and a willingness to recognize the partial validity of seemingly opposed positions. In this way, it functions not only as a theory of knowledge and reality, but also as a practical discipline for spiritual life and harmonious coexistence.