Indian philosophy: a counter perspective

Abstract

Most writings on Indian philosophy assume that its central concern is with moska , that the Vedas along with the Upanisadic texts are at the root of it and that it consists of six orthodox systems known as Mimamasa, Vedanta, Unyaya, Uvaisesika, Samkhya, and Yoga, on the one hand and three unorthodox systems: Buddhism, Jainism and Carvaka, on the other. Besides these, they accept generally the theory of Karma and the theory of Purusartha as parts of what the Indian tradition thinks about human action. The essays in this volume question these assumptions and argue that there is little ground for accepting them. A new counter-perspective is thus prepared for the articulation of the Indian philosophical tradition which breaks the traditional frame in which it has usually been presented. This text should be of interest to students and teachers of Indian philosophy.