An Introduction to Indian Philosophy: Perspectives on Reality, Knowledge, and Freedom

by Bina Gupta

Overview

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 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.

Key Updates in the Second Edition

• Reorganized 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 Western 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 Western students, and reviews important features and maxims that most darśanas follow.
• Provides new examples of applications to illustrate more obscure concepts and principles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780367363086
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	04/26/2021
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Bina Gupta is Curators’ Research Professor Emerita at the University of Missouri-Columbia and Affiliated Faculty, South Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania.

Table of Contents

Part I: Introduction 1. Introduction Part II: The Foundations 2. The Beginnings of Indian Philosophy: The Vedas 3. The Upaniṣads Part III: Darśanas: Preliminary Considerations 4. Darśanas: Preliminary Considerations Part IV: Non-Vedic Darśanas 5. Indian Materialism:The Lokāyata/Cārvāka Darśana and the Śramaṇas 6. The Jaina Darśana 7. The Bauddha Darśana Part V: The Ancient Darśanas 8. The Mīmāṃsa Darśana 9. The Sāṁkhya Darśana 10. The Yoga Darśana 11. The Vaiśeṣika Darśana 12. The Nyāya Darśana Part VI: Systems with Global Impact 13. The Buddhist Schools 14. The Vedānta Darśana Part VII: The Bhagavad Gītā 15. The Bhagavad Gītā Part VIII: Modern Indian Thought 16. Modern Indian Thought Appendix: Translation of Selected Texts A: The Foundations B: Non-Vedic Darśanas C: Ancient Darśanas D: Systems with Global Impact

Editorial Reviews

'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

From the Publisher