Philosophical Concepts in the Hindu Tradition: Global Impact

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2022) | Viewed by 8473

Special Issue Editor

Department of Religion, Concordia University, Montreal, QC H3G 1M8, Canada
Interests: yoga philosophy; Hindu studies and Indian philosophy; Hindu spiritual and religious tradition; Hinduism; Vijnanabhiksu; Yogavarttika; Sanskrit

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The two ancient civilizations in which philosophy was actively pursued were India and Greece. Scholars have pointed to similarities in the metaphysical, cosmological, medical, and value theories in both these philosophies, which have led to the belief that there must have been an exchange of views between them. As for the West, the translation of the Bhagavad Gita by Charles Wilkins in 1846 was a watershed moment in history. It led to the rise of the transcendentalists, such as Thoreau and Emerson. Emerson was the leader of the Transcendental Movement, which originated in Concord, Massachusetts, near Boston, and reached its height in 1840. As is well known, Emerson wrote a beautiful poem on the subject, entitled “Brahma”, and an essay “The Over-Soul”. This interest continued and spread with the writings of Oriental scholars such as Max Muller and others. It will not be an overstatement to say that there never was a time when this interest abated. Twentieth-century scholars, such as J.L Mehta, J.N.Mohanty, and B.K.Matilal have pointed out and written books on the mutuality of ideas of Heidegger, Husserl, and theories of consciousness and the close similarities between Navya-Nyaya ideas and symbolic logic. While Upanishadic ideas and Indian philosophical schools of thought captured the imagination of the West starting with the Transcendentalists and the Oriental scholars, the impact that these ideas had on physicists such as Oppenheimer, Heisenberg, Schrodinger, and David Bohm are well documented.

This Special Issue aims to bring into focus philosophical ideas in the Hindu Tradition both theoretically as well as by reflecting on their global impact. Scholars in the traditional Indian philosophical schools, such as Advaita, Samkhya, and Yoga, will address both the theory and application of these textual ideas globally. The grammatical tradition of Pāṇinian grammar, which gave rise to many a philosophical concept in India, is perhaps unique to the Hindu tradition. This will also be covered in this Special Issue.

The contribution of modern-day scholars, such as Aurobindo and Gandhi, who have played stellar roles in a global sense by living their lives in accordance with some of these philosophical principles, have significantly contributed to the global spread of these ideas. We have extended the scope of the topic to also include an article on Kalidasa, the renowned Sanskrit poet, whose writings have also referenced ecological and environmental ethics.

This Special Issue represents an attempt to continue to engage with this exchange of ideas well into the present times and cover recent writings furthering this same intent. We have been able to gather leading scholars who are all eminent in their respective areas of research as contributors for this Special Issue

Prof. Dr. Trichur S. Rukmani
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • the Hindu tradition
  • different schools of philosophy
  • Advaita
  • Samkhya
  • Yoga
  • Paninian grammar
  • Kalidasa
  • Gandhi
  • Aurobindo

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

25 pages, 386 KiB  
Article
The Pragma-Dialectics of Dispassionate Discourse: Early Nyāya Argumentation Theory
by Malcolm Keating
Religions 2021, 12(10), 875; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel12100875 - 14 Oct 2021
Viewed by 2052
Abstract
Analytic philosophers have, since the pioneering work of B.K. Matilal, emphasized the contributions of Nyāya philosophers to what contemporary philosophy considers epistemology. More recently, scholarly work demonstrates the relevance of their ideas to argumentation theory, an interdisciplinary area of study drawing on epistemology [...] Read more.
Analytic philosophers have, since the pioneering work of B.K. Matilal, emphasized the contributions of Nyāya philosophers to what contemporary philosophy considers epistemology. More recently, scholarly work demonstrates the relevance of their ideas to argumentation theory, an interdisciplinary area of study drawing on epistemology as well as logic, rhetoric, and linguistics. This paper shows how early Nyāya theorizing about argumentation, from Vātsyāyana to Jayanta Bhaṭṭa, can fruitfully be juxtaposed with the pragma-dialectic approach to argumentation pioneered by Frans van Eemeren. I illustrate the implications of this analysis with a case study from Jayanta Bhaṭṭa’s satirical play, Much Ado about Religion (Āgamaḍambara). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Philosophical Concepts in the Hindu Tradition: Global Impact)
17 pages, 347 KiB  
Article
Is the Theory of Karman the Solution to the Problem of Evil? Some Thoughts from Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta
by Elisa Freschi
Religions 2021, 12(10), 862; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel12100862 - 12 Oct 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2084
Abstract
Several scholars have discussed various versions of the theory of karman as offering a convincing solution to the problem of evil. Arthur Herman even thinks that the theory of karman is the ultimate theodicy (1976). Such scholars tend to imagine that a unitary [...] Read more.
Several scholars have discussed various versions of the theory of karman as offering a convincing solution to the problem of evil. Arthur Herman even thinks that the theory of karman is the ultimate theodicy (1976). Such scholars tend to imagine that a unitary theory of karman can be reconstructed as the backbone of most of Sanskrit philosophy of religion and ethics. In this article, I discuss the role of the theory of karman and the problem of evil in one of the schools of Sanskrit philosophy which is still alive and thriving, namely Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta. Is karman really the central key to theodicy in this school? Additionally, does the school’s theory of karman correspond to what Herman, Chadha, Trakakis, Sharma and others discuss? Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Philosophical Concepts in the Hindu Tradition: Global Impact)
21 pages, 337 KiB  
Article
Cutting the Knot of the World Problem: Sri Aurobindo’s Experiential and Philosophical Critique of Advaita Vedānta
by Swami Medhananda
Religions 2021, 12(9), 765; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/rel12090765 - 14 Sep 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3384
Abstract
This article proposes to examine in detail Aurobindo’s searching—and often quite original—criticisms of Advaita Vedānta, which have not yet received the sustained scholarly attention they deserve. After discussing his early spiritual experiences and the formative influence of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda on [...] Read more.
This article proposes to examine in detail Aurobindo’s searching—and often quite original—criticisms of Advaita Vedānta, which have not yet received the sustained scholarly attention they deserve. After discussing his early spiritual experiences and the formative influence of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda on his thought, I outline Aurobindo’s philosophy of “realistic Adwaita”. According to Aurobindo, the sole reality is the Divine Saccidānanda, which is not only the static impersonal Brahman but also the personal, dynamic Cit-Śakti (Consciousness-Force), which manifests as everything in this universe. At various points in his corpus, Aurobindo criticizes Advaita Vedānta on three fronts. From the standpoint of spiritual experience, Aurobindo argues that Śaṅkara’s philosophy is based on a genuine, but partial, experience of the Infinite Divine Reality: namely, the experience of the impersonal nondual Absolute and the corresponding conviction of the unreality of everything else. Aurobindo claims, on the basis of his own spiritual experiences, that there is a further stage of spiritual experience, when one realizes that the impersonal-personal Divine Reality manifests as everything in the universe. From a philosophical standpoint, Aurobindo questions the logical tenability of key Advaitic doctrines, including māyā, the exclusively impersonal nature of Brahman, and the metaphysics of an illusory bondage and liberation. Finally, from a scriptural standpoint, Aurobindo argues that the ancient Vedic hymns, the Upaniṣads, and the Bhagavad-Gītā, propound an all-encompassing Advaita philosophy rather than the world-denying Advaita philosophy Śaṅkara claims to find in them. This article focuses on Aurobindo’s experiential and philosophical critiques of Advaita Vedānta, as I have already discussed his new interpretations of the Vedāntic scriptures in detail elsewhere. The article’s final section explores the implications of Aurobindo’s life-affirming Advaitic philosophy for our current ecological crisis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Philosophical Concepts in the Hindu Tradition: Global Impact)
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