An Introduction to Indian Philosophy: Perspectives on Reality, Knowledge, and Freedom
by: Bina Gupta (Author)
Publisher: Routledge Edition: 2nd
Publication Date: April 26, 2021
Language: English
Print Length: 478 pages
ISBN-10: 0367363089
ISBN-13: 9780367363086
Book Description
An Introduction to Indian Philosophy offers a profound yet accessible survey of the development of India’s philosophical tradition. Beginning with the formation of Brāhmaṇical, Jaina, Materialist, and Buddhist traditions, Bina Gupta guides the reader through the classical schools of Indian thought, culminating in a look at how these traditions inform Indian philosophy and society in mode times. Offering translations from source texts and clear explanations of philosophical terms, this text provides a rigorous overview of Indian philosophical contributions to epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and ethics. This is a must-read for anyone seeking a reliable and illuminating introduction to Indian philosophy.Key Updates in the Second EditionReorganized into seven parts and fifteen chapters, making it easier for instructors to assign chapters for a semester-long course.Continues to introduce systems historically, but focuses on new key questions and issues within each system.Details new arguments, counter-arguments, objections, and their reformulations in the nine schools of Indian philosophy. Offers expanded discussion of how various schools of Indian philosophy are engaged with each other.Highlights key concepts and adds new grey boxes to explain selected key concepts.Includes a new section that problematizes the Weste notion of “philosophy.”New Suggested Readings sections are placed at the end of each chapter, which include recommended translations, a bibliography of important works, and pertinent recent scholarship for each school. Adds a new part (Part III) that explains the difficulties involved in translating from Sanskrit into English, discusses fundamental concepts and conceptual distinctions often used to present Indian philosophy to Weste students, and reviews important features and maxims that most darśanas follow. Provides new examples of applications to illustrate more obscure concepts and principles. An Introduction to Indian Philosophy offers a profound yet accessible survey of the development of India’s philosophical tradition. Beginning with the formation of Brāhmaṇical, Jaina, Materialist, and Buddhist traditions, Bina Gupta guides the reader through the classical schools of Indian thought, culminating in a look at how these traditions inform Indian philosophy and society in mode times. Offering translations from source texts and clear explanations of philosophical terms, this text provides a rigorous overview of Indian philosophical contributions to epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and ethics. This is a must-read for anyone seeking a reliable and illuminating introduction to Indian philosophy.Key Updates in the Second EditionReorganized into seven parts and fifteen chapters, making it easier for instructors to assign chapters for a semester-long course.Continues to introduce systems historically, but focuses on new key questions and issues within each system.Details new arguments, counter-arguments, objections, and their reformulations in the nine schools of Indian philosophy. Offers expanded discussion of how various schools of Indian philosophy are engaged with each other.Highlights key concepts and adds new grey boxes to explain selected key concepts.Includes a new section that problematizes the Weste notion of “philosophy.”New Suggested Readings sections are placed at the end of each chapter, which include recommended translations, a bibliography of important works, and pertinent recent scholarship for each school. Adds a new part (Part III) that explains the difficulties involved in translating from Sanskrit into English, discusses fundamental concepts and conceptual distinctions often used to present Indian philosophy to Weste students, and reviews important features and maxims that most darśanas follow. Provides new examples of applications to illustrate more obscure concepts and principles.
An Introduction to Indian Philosophy: Perspectives on Reality, Knowledge, and Freedom
Author(s): Bina Gupta (Author)
Publisher: Routledge
Publication Date: 4 Aug. 2011
Edition: 1st
Language: English
Print length: 360 pages
ISBN-10: 0415800021
ISBN-13: 9780415800020
Book Description
An Introduction to Indian Philosophy offers a profound yet accessible survey of the development of India’s philosophical tradition. Beginning with the formation of Brahmanical, Jaina, Materialist, and Buddhist traditions, Bina Gupta guides the reader through the classical schools of Indian thought, culminating in a look at how these traditions inform Indian philosophy and society in modern times. Offering translations from source texts and clear explanations of philosophical terms, this text provides a rigorous overview of Indian philosophical contributions to epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and ethics. This is a must-read for anyone seeking a reliable and illuminating introduction to Indian philosophy.
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Bina Gupta’s book is superb and a very welcome contribution to literature introducing Indian philosophy to students. The lucidity and thoroughness with which Indian philosophical periods and textual traditions are treated are masterful. Especially helpful to the student will be the Appendices where selections of primary texts have been skillfully chosen and translated. . . . It will become a standard textbook in Indian philosophy.”–Douglas Berger, Southern Illinois University, USA
“We need more textbooks like Bina Gupta’s An Introduction to Indian Philosophy, but few people can provide them. Bina Gupta is familiar with the Western philosophical tradition and she also provides her own clearly rendered translations of the classic texts of the Indian tradition. Philosophy majors will especially appreciate her instructive comparisons, like her detailed discussion of the similarities and differences between the five-termed Nyaya ‘syllogistic’ form of reasoning and the three-termed Aristotelian syllogism.”–Lou Reich, California State University, Long Beach, USA
‘Bina Gupta’s book is superb and a very welcome contribution to literature introducing Indian philosophy to students. The lucidity and thoroughness with which Indian philosophical periods and textual traditions are treated are masterful. Especially helpful to the student will be the Appendices where selections of primary texts have been skillfully chosen and translated. . . . It will become a standard textbook in Indian philosophy.’ – Douglas Berger, Southern Illinois University, USA
‘We need more textbooks like Bina Gupta’s An Introduction to Indian Philosophy, but few people can provide them. Bina Gupta is familiar with the Western philosophical tradition and she also provides her own clearly rendered translations of the classic texts of the Indian tradition. Philosophy majors will especially appreciate her instructive comparisons, like her detailed discussion of the similarities and differences between the five-termed Nyaya ‘syllogistic’ form of reasoning and the three-termed Aristotelian syllogism.’ – Lou Reich, California State University, Long Beach, USA
‘[Gupta’s] book will no doubt be widely used and will give many students access to a field of study that otherwise would have been closed to them.’– John Taber, University of New Mexico, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews
‘Gupta’s work is an intricate and penetrating overview of the Indian darshanas… With its incredible detail and crystalline analysis, it is a veritable goldmine for graduate students and established scholars looking to further their knowledge of Indian philosophical systems. Not only is this Introduction to Indian Philosophy an illuminating and absorbing work, it is also a breath of fresh air for the field of philosophy, as well as other disciplines (e.g., religious studies and history). Bina Gupta should be highly commended for accomplishing so much… I would unequivocally recommend this book not only to those of her target audience, but also to anyone interested in the often-ignored philosophies of India.’ – Adam T. Miller, University of Missouri-Columbia, USA in Religion
About the Author
Bina Gupta is Curators’ Distinguished Research Professor, Professor of Philosophy, and Director of South Asian Studies at the University of Missouri.
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