A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 756 pages of information about A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1.

A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1 eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 756 pages of information about A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1.
terms and the general positions of the different Indian thinkers and their modes of expression, he can master the whole by patient toil.  The technical terms, which are a source of difficulty at the beginning, are of inestimable value in helping us to understand the precise and definite meaning of the writers who used them, and the chances of misinterpreting or misunderstanding them are reduced to a minimum.  It is I think well-known that avoidance of technical terms has often rendered philosophical works unduly verbose, and liable to misinterpretation.  The art of clear writing is indeed a rare virtue and every philosopher cannot expect to have it.  But when technical expressions are properly formed, even a bad writer can make himself understood.  In the early days of Buddhist philosophy in the Pali literature, this difficulty is greatly felt.  There are some technical terms here which are still very elastic and their repetition in different places in more or less different senses heighten the difficulty of understanding the real meaning intended to be conveyed.

But is it necessary that a history of Indian philosophy should be written?  There are some people who think that the Indians never rose beyond the stage of simple faith and that therefore they cannot have any philosophy at all in the proper sense of the term.  Thus Professor Frank Thilly of the Cornell University says in his History of Philosophy [Footnote ref 1], “A universal history of philosophy would include the philosophies of all peoples.  Not all peoples, however

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[Footnote 1:  New York, 1914, p. 3.]

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have produced real systems of thought, and the speculations of only a few can be said to have had a history.  Many do not rise beyond the mythological stage.  Even the theories of Oriental peoples, the Hindus, Egyptians, Chinese, consist, in the main, of mythological and ethical doctrines, and are not thoroughgoing systems of thought:  they are shot through with poetry and faith.  We shall, therefore, limit ourselves to the study of the Western countries, and begin with the philosophy of the ancient Greeks, on whose culture our own civilization in part, rests.”  There are doubtless many other people who hold such uninformed and untrue beliefs, which only show their ignorance of Indian matters.  It is not necessary to say anything in order to refute these views, for what follows will I hope show the falsity of their beliefs.  If they are not satisfied, and want to know more definitely and elaborately about the contents of the different systems, I am afraid they will have to go to the originals referred to in the bibliographical notices of the chapters.

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A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 1 from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.