Hindu philosophy

Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of Indian philosophical systems that developed in tandem with the religion of Hinduism during the iron and classical ages of India. In Indian tradition, the word used for philosophy is Darshana(Sanskrit: दर्शन; meaning: "viewpoint or perspective"), from the Sanskrit root दृश (drish) meaning 'to see, to experience'.[1]

Hindu philosophy consists of six orthodox schools of thought 'shad-darśana'(षड्दर्शन): Samkhya(संख्या), Yoga(योग), Nyaya(न्यायः), Vaisheshika(वैषेशिक), Mimamsa(मीमांसा) and Vedanta(वेदान्त).[2] These are called the āstika(Sanskrit:अस्तिक) philosophical traditions (i.e. those that accept the Vedas as an authoritative, important source of knowledge).[3][note 1][note 2] Indian philosophy during the ancient and medieval periods also yielded philosophical systems that share concepts with āstika traditions, but rejected the Vedas; these have been called nāstika (heterodox or non-orthodox) philosophies,[2][3] they include: Buddhism, Jainism, Chārvāka, Ājīvika, and others,[6] which are thus classified under Indian but not Hindu philosophy.

Western scholars have debated the relationship and differences within āstika philosophies, and theirs with the nāstika philosophies, starting with the writings of Indologists and Orientalists of the 18th and 19th centuries, which were themselves derived from limited availability of Indian literature and medieval doxographies.[2] The various sibling traditions included in Hindu philosophies are diverse and are united by shared history and concepts, same textual resources, similar ontological and soteriological focus, and cosmology.[7][8] While Buddhism and Jainism are considered distinct philosophies and religions, some heterodox (nāstika) traditions such as Chārvāka are often considered as distinct schools within Hindu philosophy because the word Hindu is also an exonym and historically the term has been used as a geographical and cultural identifier for people living in the Indian subcontinent.[9][10][11][12]

Hindu philosophy also includes several sub-schools of theistic philosophies that integrate ideas from two or more of the six orthodox philosophies, such as realism of Nyāya, naturalism of Vaiśeṣika, dualism of Sāṅkhya, non-dualism of Advaita, and self-discipline of Yoga.[13][14][15] Examples of such schools include: Pāśupata Śaiva, Śaiva siddhānta, Pratyabhijña, Raseśvara and Vaiṣṇava.[13][14] Some sub-schools share Tantric ideas with those found in some Buddhist traditions,[16] which are nevertheless found in the Puranas and the Āgamas.[17][18][19] Each school of Hindu philosophy has extensive epistemological literature called Pramana,[20][21] as well as theories on metaphysics, axiology, and other topics.[22]

  1. ^ "Meaning of word Darshana". Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Andrew Nicholson (2013), Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0231149877, pages 2–5
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference KK26 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ M Chadha (2015), The Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Philosophy of Religion (Editor: Graham Oppy), Routledge, ISBN 978-1844658312, pages 127–128
  5. ^ Elisa Freschi (2012), Duty, Language and Exegesis in Prabhakara Mimamsa, BRILL, ISBN 978-9004222601, page 62
  6. ^ P Bilimoria (2000), Indian Philosophy (Editor: Roy Perrett), Routledge, ISBN 978-1135703226, page 88
  7. ^ Frazier, Jessica (2011). The Continuum companion to Hindu studies. London: Continuum. pp. 1–15. ISBN 978-0-8264-9966-0.
  8. ^ Carl Olson (2007), The Many Colors of Hinduism: A Thematic-historical Introduction, Rutgers University Press, ISBN 978-0813540689, pages 101-119
  9. ^ Pennington, Brian K. (2005). Was Hinduism Invented?: Britons, Indians, and the Colonial Construction of Religion. Oxford university press. pp. 111–118. ISBN 978-0-19-803729-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ^ R Thomas (2014), Hindu Perspectives on Evolution: Darwin, Dharma, and Design. Sociology of Religion, Vol. 75, No. 1, pages 164–165, Quote: "some of the ancient Hindu traditions like Carvaka have a rich tradition of materialism, in general, other schools..."
  11. ^ KN Tiwari (1998), Classical Indian Ethical Thought, Motilal Banarsidass, ISBN 978-8120816077, page 67; Quote: "Of the three heterodox systems, the remaining one, the Cārvāka system, is a Hindu system.";
  12. ^ V.V. Raman (2012), Hinduism and Science: Some Reflections, Zygon – Journal of Religion and Science, 47(3): 549–574, Quote (page 557): "Aside from nontheistic schools like the Samkhya, there have also been explicitly atheistic schools in the Hindu tradition. One virulently anti-supernatural system is/was the so-called Carvaka school.", doi:10.1111/j.1467-9744.2012.01274.x
    Bill Cooke (2005), Dictionary of Atheism, Skepticism, and Humanism, ISBN 978-1591022992, page 84;
    For a general discussion of Cārvāka and other atheistic traditions within Hindu philosophy, see Jessica Frazier (2014), Hinduism in The Oxford Handbook of Atheism (Editors: Stephen Bullivant, Michael Ruse), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0199644650, pages 367–378
  13. ^ a b Klaus K. Klostermaier (1984), Mythologies and Philosophies of Salvation in the Theistic Traditions of India, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, ISBN 978-0889201583, pages 124–134, 164–173, 242–265
  14. ^ a b Flood 1996, pp. 132–136, 162–169, 231–232.
  15. ^ Teun Goudriaan and Sanjukta Gupta (1981), Hindu Tantric and Śākta Literature, A History of Indian Literature, Volume 2, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, ISBN 978-3447020916, pages 7–14
  16. ^ Klaus K. Klostermaier (1984), Mythologies and Philosophies of Salvation in the Theistic Traditions of India, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, ISBN 978-0889201583, pages 219–223
  17. ^ Klaus K. Klostermaier (1984), Mythologies and Philosophies of Salvation in the Theistic Traditions of India, Wilfrid Laurier University Press, ISBN 978-0889201583, pages 28–35
  18. ^ Jayandra Soni (1990), Philosophical Anthropology in Śaiva Siddhānta, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, ISBN 978-8120806320, pages vii–xii
  19. ^ Hilko Schomerus and Humphrey Palme (2000), Śaiva Siddhānta: An Indian School of Mystical Thought, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, ISBN 978-8120815698, pages 13–19
  20. ^ Potter 1991, p. 172.
  21. ^ Guttorm Fløistad 1993, p. 137-154.
  22. ^ Karl H. Potter (1961), A Fresh Classification of India's Philosophical Systems Archived 14 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 21, No. 1, pages 25–32


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