An Introduction to Indian Philosophy

Guides the reader through the classical schools of Indian though and looks at how they inform Indian philosophy and society today. Provides a rigorous overview of Indian philosophical contributions to epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of language, and ethics.

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.

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 darsanas follow.
• Provides new examples of applications to illustrate more obscure concepts and principles.

Part I: Introduction 1. Introduction Part II: The Foundations 2. The Beginnings of Indian Philosophy: The Vedas 3. The Upanisads Part III: Darsanas: Preliminary Considerations 4. Darsanas: Preliminary Considerations Part IV: Non-Vedic Darsanas 5. Indian Materialism:The Lokayata/Carvaka Darsana and the Sramanas 6. The Jaina Darsana 7. The Bauddha Darsana Part V: The Ancient Darsanas 8. The Mima sa Darsana 9. The Sa khya Darsana 10. The Yoga Darsana 11. The Vaisesika Darsana 12. The Nyaya Darsana Part VI: Systems with Global Impact 13. The Buddhist Schools 14. The Vedanta Darsana Part VII: The Bhagavad Gita 15. The Bhagavad Gita Part VIII: Modern Indian Thought 16. Modern Indian Thought Appendix: Translation of Selected Texts A: The Foundations B: Non-Vedic Darsanas C: Ancient Darsanas D: Systems with Global Impact