Peter Adamson and Jonardon Ganeri present a lively introduction to one of the world's richest intellectual traditions: the philosophy of classical India. They begin with the earliest extant literature, the Vedas, and the explanatory works that these inspired, known as Upanisads. They also discuss other famous texts of classical Vedic culture, especially the Mahabharata and its most notable section, the Bhagavad-Gita, alongside the rise of Buddhism
and Jainism. In this opening section, Adamson and Ganeri emphasize the way that philosophy was practiced as a form of life in search of liberation from suffering. Next, the pair move on to the explosion of philosophical
speculation devoted to foundational texts called 'sutras,' discussing such traditions as the logical and epistemological Nyaya school, the monism of Advaita Vedanta, and the spiritual discipline of Yoga. In the final section of the book, they chart further developments within Buddhism, highlighting Nagarjuna's radical critique of 'non-dependent' concepts and the no-self philosophy of mind found in authors like Dignaga, and within Jainism, focusing especially on its 'standpoint' epistemology.
Unlike other introductions that cover the main schools and positions in classical Indian philosophy, Adamson and Ganeri's lively guide also pays attention to philosophical themes such as non-violence,
political authority, and the status of women, while considering textual traditions typically left out of overviews of Indian thought, like the Carvaka school, Tantra, and aesthetic theory as well. Adamson and Ganeri conclude by focusing on the much-debated question of whether Indian philosophy may have influenced ancient Greek philosophy and, from there, evaluate the impact that this area of philosophy had on later Western thought.
Peter Adamson and Jonardon Ganeri present a lively introduction to one of the world's richest intellectual traditions: the philosophy of classical India. They begin with the earliest extant literature, the Vedas, and the explanatory works that these inspired, known as Upanisads. They also discuss other famous texts of classical Vedic culture, especially the Mahabharata and its most notable section, the Bhagavad-Gita, alongside the rise of Buddhism
and Jainism. In this opening section, Adamson and Ganeri emphasize the way that philosophy was practiced as a form of life in search of liberation from suffering. Next, the pair move on to the explosion of philosophical
speculation devoted to foundational texts called 'sutras,' discussing such traditions as the logical and epistemological Nyaya school, the monism of Advaita Vedanta, and the spiritual discipline of Yoga. In the final section of the book, they chart further developments within Buddhism, highlighting Nagarjuna's radical critique of 'non-dependent' concepts and the no-self philosophy of mind found in authors like Dignaga, and within Jainism, focusing especially on its 'standpoint' epistemology.
Unlike other introductions that cover the main schools and positions in classical Indian philosophy, Adamson and Ganeri's lively guide also pays attention to philosophical themes such as non-violence,
political authority, and the status of women, while considering textual traditions typically left out of overviews of Indian thought, like the Carvaka school, Tantra, and aesthetic theory as well. Adamson and Ganeri conclude by focusing on the much-debated question of whether Indian philosophy may have influenced ancient Greek philosophy and, from there, evaluate the impact that this area of philosophy had on later Western thought.
Origins
1: Begin at the End: Introduction to Indian Philosophy
2: Scriptures, Schools, and Systems: A Historical Overview
3: Kingdom for a Horse: India in the Vedic Period
4: Hide and Seek: The Upanisads
5: Indra's Search: The Self in the Upanisads
6: You Are What You Do: Karma in the Upanisads
7: Case Worker: Panini's Grammar
8: Suffering and Smiling: The Buddha
9: Crossover Appeal: The Nature of the Buddha's Teaching
10: Carry a Big Stick: Ancient Indian Political Thought
11: Better Half: Women in Ancient India
12: Grand Illusion: Dharma and Deception in the Mahabharata
13: World on a String: The Bhagavad-gita
14: Mostly Harmless: Non-Violence
The Age of the Sutra
15: A Tangled Web: The Age of the Sutra
16: When in Doubt: The Rise of Skepticism
17: Master of Ceremonies: Jaimini's Mimamsa-sutra
18: Innocent Until Proven Guilty: Mimamsa on Knowledge and
Language
19: Source Code: Badarayaa's Vedanta-sutra
20: No Two Ways About It: Sakara and Advaita Vedanta
21: Communication Breakdown: Bhartrhari on Language
22: The Theory of Evolution: isvarakrsna's Samkhya-karika
23: Who Wants to Live Forever? Early ayurvedic Medicine
24: Practice Makes Perfect: Patañjali's Yoga-sutra
25: Where There's Smoke There's Fire: Gautama's Nyaya-sutra
26: What You See Is What You Get: Nyaya on Perception
27: Standard Deductions: Nyaya on Reasoning
28: The Truth Shall Set You Free: Nyaya on the Mind
29: Fine Grained Analysis: Kanada's Vaisesika-sutra
30: The Whole Story: Vaisesika on Complexity and Causation
31: A Day in the Life: Theories of Time
32: The Wolf's Footprint: Indian Naturalism
33: Mind out of Matter: Materialist Theories of the Self
Buddhists and Jainas
34: We Beg to Differ: The Buddhists and Jainas
35: It All Depends: Nagarjuna on Emptiness
36: Motion Denied: Nagarjuna on Change
37: No Four Ways About It: Nagarjuna's Tetralemma
38: Taking Perspective: The Jaina Theory of Standpoints
39: Well Qualified: The Jainas on Truth
40: Change of Mind: Vasubandhu and Yogacara Buddhism
41: Who's Pulling Your Strings? Buddhaghosa on No-Self and
Autonomy
42: Under Construction: Dignaga on Perception and Language
43: Follow the Evidence: Dignaga's Logic
44: Doors of Perception: Dignaga on Consciousness
Beyond Ancient India
45: In Good Taste: The Rasa Aesthetic Theory
46: Learn by Doing: Tantra
47: Looking East: Indian Influence on Greek Thought
48: The Buddha and I: Indian Influence on Islamic and European
Thought
49: What Happened Next: Indian Philosophy After Dignaga
Peter Adamson received his BA from Williams College and PhD in
Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. He worked at King's
College London from 2000 until 2012. He subsequently moved to the
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, where he is Professor of
Late Ancient and Arabic Philosophy. He has published widely in
ancient and medieval philosophy, and is the host of the History of
Philosophy podcast. Jonardon Ganeri is a Fellow of the British
Academy. He is the author of Attention, Not Self (2017), The Self
(2012), The Lost Age of Reason (2011), and The Concealed Art of the
Soul (2007). Ganeri's work draws on a variety of philosophical
traditions to
construct new positions in the philosophy of mind, metaphysics, and
epistemology. He became the first philosopher to win the Infosys
Prize in the Humanities in 2015.
An astonishing intellectual tour de force written in an accessible
and engaging style.
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