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The State of Philosophical Studies in India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2009

Extract

Contemporary philosophical activity in India is influenced not only by India's traditional philosophy but also by Western Philosophy. One of the results of the introduction, by Macaulay, of the Western system of education into India is the popularization of the study of Western Philosophy, and Indians took to it quite enthusiastically. Sanscrit philosophical texts were at first regarded as sacred, and Europeans could have no access to them. But in time, the prejudice abated, and Sanscrit texts began to be translated into English. At the beginning, the motives behind Western interest in Indian Philosophy were mainly of two kinds: the rulers wanted to understand the culture and religions of the ruled in order to govern them without hurting their religious sentiments, and thus with the least friction; and secondly. Christian missionaries wanted converts and studied the religions and philosophies of the latter in order to find out defects in them and uphold the superiority of Christianity. But whatever be the motives and however biased the scholarship in the beginning, genuine academical interest in the philosophical literature of India came to be evinced, thanks to the work of men like Max Müller, Deussen, Rhys Davids, etc., and vast stores of Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina philosophical literature were unearthed not only in India but also outside. It should, however, be said that academical philosophers of the West did not take serious interest in Indian Philosophy as such; and not a single Indian philosophical concept has entered till now the discussions of Western technical philosophy, Schopenhauer was an exception: he made serious use of the concept of Maya.

Type
Philosophical Survey
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Institute of Philosophy 1949

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References

page 346 note 1 It is significant that the Government of India have sponsored the publication of Philosophy: East and West (with an Editorial Board consisting of Sir S. Rádhakrishnan, the Chairman, Professor A. R. Wadia, Professor D. M. Datta, and Professor Humayun Kabir, the Secretary), which will include all important philosophies of the world. Another volume on comparative philosophy has been projected (with the Editorial Board consisting of Dean Inge, Principal L. P. Jacks, Professor E. A. Burtt, Professor M. Hiriyanna, and Dr. P. T. Raju), which will contain articles on the subject from philosophers of the different countries of the world, and will attempt to bring East and West philosophically together. The volume is to be presented, in honour of completing his sixtieth year, to Sir S. Radhakrishnan, who has done the largest and the most important work on comparative philosophy.

page 347 note 1 For a detailed presentation of contemporary philosophical activity in India, see the author's chapter “Indian Philosophy: A Survey” (Progress of Indic Studies, The Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Poona)Google Scholar and the article, “Research in Indian Philosophy: A Review (Ganganatha Jha Research Institute Journal, Vol. I, Parts 2, 3 and 4, Allahabad)Google Scholar.