Recent Views of Indian Religion and Philosophy

Abstract

The appearance of several important books on Indian religion and philosophy provides an opportunity for consideration of the attractions and obstacles to understanding that important world of thought. At the end of the British Raj it seemed as if there might be a slackening of interest in India, but nothing will stop Indians writing and many books arestill coming from European and American writers. But how reliable are they? ‘Indian philosophy is much bound up with theology’, remarks Ninian Smart, and ‘suspicions of Indian philosophy are not mitigated by the current Western enthusiasm for Oriental spirituality: travelling monks and yogis (though often innocent of pompous intentions) tend to speak of their “philosophy” rather than of religion, partly because the latter term is loaded in a special way in its Western use. Thus they give the impression that spiritual uplift, rather than analytic exactness, is the chief characteristic of Indian philosophy.’ On the other hand, ‘there is the prevalent suspicion, among English-speaking philosophers, that the theological bent of much Indian metaphysics means that Indian argumentation is neither rigorous nor realistic’. And in any case it may be held that ‘philosophy is either an international activity where national roots are irrelevant or it is mere history of ideas’, and so the complex Indian schools are only of incidental interest.