A CRITICAL SURVEY OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY

Indian philosophy distinctly exhibits a spiritual bent. The essence of religion is not dogmatic in India. Here, religion develops as philosophy progressively scales higher planes. Some of the fundamentals expressed in the Indian philosophy and the Western philosophy may be similar. However, Indian philosophy differs from the Western philosophy on several counts. While the Western philosophy deals with metaphysics, epistemology, psychology, ethics etc. separately, Indian philosophy takes a comprehensive view of all these topics. Indian philosophy is distinctive in its application of analytical rigour to metaphysical problems and goes into very precise detail about the nature of reality, the structure and function of the human psyche and how the relationship between the two have important implications for human salvation. Rishis centred philosophy on an assumption that there is a unitary underlying order in the universe which is all pervasive and omniscient. The efforts by various schools were concentrated on explaining this order and the metaphysical entity at its source. The concept of natural law provided a basis for understanding questions of how life on earth should be lived. The sages urged humans to discern this order and to live their lives in accordance with it. This book contains plenty of substance for scholars, but the writing has the verve and clarity to seize and entertain the general reader as well.

Contents: • Niskamakarma and Lokasamgraha • Good, Right, Justice • Ethical Cognitivism and Non-Cognitivism • Ethical Realism and Intuitionism • The Formula of the Universal Law of Nature • The Existence of Human Rights