Classical Indian Philosophy

422 Pages·2020·2.657 MB·English

by  Peter Adamson , Jonardon Ganeri

OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,7/11/2019,SPi
CLASSICAL INDIAN PHILOSOPHY
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,7/11/2019,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,7/11/2019,SPi
P E T E R A D A M S O N A N D
J O N A R D O N G A N E R I
CLASSICAL
INDIAN
PHILOSOPHY
a history of philosophy without
any gaps, volume 5
1
OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,7/11/2019,SPi
1
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OUPCORRECTEDPROOF–FINAL,7/11/2019,SPi
CONTENTS
NoteonPronunciation ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgements xv
Timeline xvii
MapofIndia xxiii
PART I ORIGINS
. Begin at the End: An Introduction to philosophy in India 
. Scriptures, Schools, and Systems: A Historical Overview 
. Kingdom for a Horse: India in the Vedic Period 
. Hide and Seek: The Upaniṣads 
. Indra’s Search: The Self in the Upaniṣads 
. You Are What You Do: Karma in the Upaniṣads 
. Case Worker: Pāṇini’s Grammar 
. Suffering and Smiling: The Buddha 
. Crossover Appeal: The Nature of the Buddha’s Teaching 
. Carry a Big Stick: Ancient Indian Political Thought 
. Better Half: Women in Ancient India 
. Grand Illusion: Dharma and Deception in the Mahab̄ har̄ata 
. World on a String: The Bhagavad-gıt̄ā 
. Mostly Harmless: Non-Violence 
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̄
PART II THE AGE OF THE SUTRA
. A Tangled Web: The Age of the Sūtra 
. When in Doubt: The Rise of Skepticism 
. Master of Ceremonies: Jaimini’s Mım̄ am̄ ̣sa-̄sūtra 
. Innocent Until Proven Guilty: Mım̄ āṃsā on Knowledge
and Language 
. Source Code: Bādarāyaṇa’s Vedan̄ ta-sūtra 
. No Two Ways About It: Śan_kara and Advaita Vedānta 
. Communication Breakdown: Bhartṛhari on Language 
. The Theory of Evolution:(cid:2)Isv́ arakṛṣṇa’s Sam̄ ̣khya-kar̄ikā 
. Who Wants to Live Forever? Early Aˉyurvedic Medicine 
. Practice Makes Perfect: Patañjali’s Yoga-sūtra 
. Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire: Gautama’s Nyaȳa-sūtra 
. What You See Is What You Get: Nyāya on Perception 
. Standard Deductions: Nyāya on Reasoning 
. The Truth Shall Set You Free: Nyāya on the Mind 
. Fine-Grained Analysis: Kaṇāda’s Vaisésịka-sūtra 
. The Whole Story: Vaisé ṣika on Complexity and Causation 
. A Day in the Life: Theories of Time 
. The Wolf’s Footprint: Indian Naturalism 
. Mind out of Matter: MaterialistTheories of the Self 
PART III BUDDHISTS AND JAINAS
. We Beg to Differ: The Buddhists and Jainas 
. It All Depends: Nāgārjuna on Emptiness 
. Motion Denied: Nāgārjuna on Change 
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. No Four Ways About It: Nāgārjuna’s Tetralemma 
. Taking Perspective: The Jaina Theory of Standpoints 
. Well Qualified: The Jainas on Truth 
. Change of Mind: Vasubandhu and Yogācāra Buddhism 
. Who’s Pulling Your Strings? Buddhaghosa on No-Self and
Autonomy 
. Under Construction: Dignāga on Perception and Language 
. Follow the Evidence: Dignāga’s Logic 
. Doors of Perception: Dignāga on Consciousness 
PART IV BEYOND ANCIENT INDIA
. In Good Taste: The Aesthetics of Rasa 
. Learn by Doing: Tantra 
. Looking East: Indian Influence on Greek Thought 
. The Buddha and I: Indian Influence on Islamic and European
Thought 
. What Happened Next: Indian Philosophyafter Dignāga 

Notes

FurtherReading

Index
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NOTE ON PRONUNCIATION
This note follows M. Coulson, Sanskrit: An Introduction to the Classical Language
(London:),–,whereaverydetailedexplanationcanbefound.
Vowel sounds. The short “a” in Sanskrit (written “a” with no diacritical mark),
soundsliketheEnglishvowel“u”in“but”or“duck,”whichiswhywehaveEnglish
renderings of words like “pundit” and “Punjab.” The long “a” (written “ā”) is com-
pletely open, as in “father.”There are longand shortversions ofthe other vowels,
with “i” as in “pin” and “ı”̄ as in “fee,” “u” as in “put” but “ū” as in “boo,” “e” as in
“made”and“ai”asin“bite,”andfinally“o”asin“rope”but“au”asin“found.”Thereis
alsoavowel“ṛ”,usuallypronouncedasif“ri,”thusṚg-vedaispronounced“Rigveda.”
Consonantsounds.Consonantsareclassifiedasvoicelessorvoiced,unaspiratedor
aspirated,andtherearefivetypes,velar,palatal,retroflex,dental,andlabial(seethe
excellent interactive chart at https://ubcsanskrit.ca/lesson/devanāgarı.̄html). The
voiceless stops are “k,” “c,” “t,̣” “t,” and “p,” pronounced as in “kill,” “chill,” “try,”
French“tout,”and“pill.”Theretroflex“t”̣ ismadewiththetongueagainstthefront
of the roof of the mouth rather than against the teeth. The aspirated versions of
thesestopsarewrittenas“kh,”“ch,”“tḥ ,”“th,”and“ph.”Notethatthe“h”indicates
aspirationonly,andsotheyarenotpronouncedasin“thin”or“physics,”butsimply
asbeforebutnowwithanoutbreath.Theunaspiratedvoicedstops(voicedbecause
pronounced with a vibration of the vocal chord) are “g,” “j,” “ḍ,” “d,” and “b,” and
they closely resemble their English equivalents. These too have aspirated versions,
“gh,” “jh,” “ḍh,” “dh,” and “bh,” pronounced with both vibrating vocal chord and
outbreath.
Nasals.TherearefivenasalsoundsinSanskrit,oneforeachofthefiveconsonant
groupsmentionedbefore.Theyaretransliteratedas“n_,”“ñ,”“ṇ,”“n,”and“m.”Thus
“an_ga” sounds like English “hunger” without the “h,” while “pañca” sounds like
“puncher.”
Therearefourunaspiratedsemi-vowels,“ya,”“ra,”“la,”and“va.”Ofthese,“va”is
somewherebetweenEnglish“v”and“w.”
Therearethreesibilants,palatal“sá ,”retroflex“ṣa,”anddental“sa.”Thedental“sa”
is most similar to English “s,” palatal “sá ” sounds like “sh” as in “ship,” and the
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