Hindu Philosophy

by Theos. Bernard

Who were India's foremost thinkers? What systems did they establish? What problems have agitated the minds of India's philosophers, intellectuals and mystics? Tersely and in pleasing style Dr. Bernard has answered these questions satisfactorily alike to the layman and the special student of India and her philosophic life without effecting a compromise with Western philosophy and its narrow categories. Moreover, the important Kashmir Shaivism, so long omitted from works on Indian Philosophy, has at last been given its due here. In a sense, a major portion of the book is also dictionary-a dictionary of Sanskrit philosophical terms, arranged alphabetically, explained as to grammatical construction or composition, and defined, often with emphasis on special meanings within the different types of philosophy. Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 - 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, social reformer, and pacifist. Although he spent the majority of his life in England, he was born in Wales, where he also died. Russell led the British "revolt against Idealism" in the early 1900s and is considered one of the founders of analytic philosophy along with his protégé Wittgenstein and his elder Frege. He co-authored, with A. N. Whitehead, Principia Mathematica, an attempt to ground mathematics on logic. His philosophical essay "On Denoting" has been considered a "paradigm of philosophy." Both works have had a considerable influence on logic, mathematics, set theory, linguistics and analytic philosophy. He was a prominent anti-war activist, championing free trade between nations and anti-imperialism. Russell was imprisoned for his pacifist activism during World War I, campaigned against Adolf Hitler, for nuclear disarmament, criticised Soviet totalitarianism and the United States of America's involvement in the Vietnam War. In 1950, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought."

220 pages, Hardcover

First published March 15, 2007

Reviews

[Rama Rao · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Hindu thought and the nature of physical reality

Since civilization dawned on humans, they looked up at the sky and always puzzled as to what could be there in that vast space. The idea also lurked in their minds slowly and steadily as to the nature of force behind the diversity and creation. Why are we all here? And what is reason behind human existence? Spiritual and philosophical thoughts crossed human minds at various levels and these ideas evolved slowly but steadily into sophisticated form of reasoning.

The earliest metaphysical thought emerged from the early Upanishads, dating back to 9th century B.C.E. The Vedic sages and preceptors built Hindu Philosophy based on the teachings of Vedas and Upanishads. They are called the Astika (orthodox) philosophical traditions. There are six schools of metaphysical systems, and they are, Samkhya Philosophy, Yoga Philosophy, Nyaya Philosophy, Vaiseshika Philosophy, Mimamsa Philosophy and the Vedanta Philosophy. The Buddhist and Jain philosophical schools also evolved in ancient India independently of Hindu scriptures.

Hindu philosophy also includes several sub-schools of theistic philosophies (focused on devotion to God) that integrate ideas from two or more of the six orthodox philosophies, such as the realism of the Nyaya School, the naturalism of the Vaisesika School, the dualism of the Samkhya Philosophy, the Oneness of School of Vedanta; and self-discipline of Yoga School and asceticism.

Hindu philosophy covers an exhaustive amount of material, but the author has summarized this in about 200 pages. The metaphysical concepts has not been described fully and accurately in this book. I recommend the readers interested in the wisdom of ancient Indian philosophy to numerous online resources available at Wikipedia, HinduWebsite.com, Encyclopedia Britannica, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy @Iep.UTM.Edu, and Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. The published books such as “A history of Indian Philosophy, by S. Dasgupta, and Indian Philosophy by S. Radhakrishnan could be of some assistance in familiarizing the underlying principles.

[Kumari de Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am actually not reading this version of Hindu Philosophy, but a version published in India circa 1980. It's in English, but it may be lacking commentary or forward that the 2007 version may have.

My only difficulty with the book is the same difficulty I have with any book written in its era: the classical Sanskrit transliteration isn't explained. I know, I know, because it's classical. But I do wonder how to pronounce some of these new wonderful words I come across. They have diacritical symbols I've never seen before, phooey. I had the same problem reading Arthur Avalon.

By comparison this book is more accessible (than Avalon.) Bernard has a handy glossary in the back, and I find his organization easy to follow. Sometimes I question his logic, but I don't fault him for being the messenger. If you like yoga and you want to delve a little deeper into the philosophy this is a great resource. It's in English and was written by a Westerner. He has a firm grip on his material.

[Di Pan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overview of the different sects of Hindu philosophy.