Philosophy and India : Ancestors, Outsiders, and Predecessors

This book critically assesses the contributions of the country's leading academic philosophers by analysing the strengths and limitations that characterize the practice of philosophy in India. It focuses on their discussions of modernity, colonialism, classical Indian philosophy, and modern Western philosophy. Divided into three sections, the first discusses the works of Krishna Chandra Bhattacharyya and Akeel Bilgrami, and their project of offering Indian solutions to Western philosophical problems. The second part deals with Daya Krishna's attempts to engage traditional Indian philosophy in a dialogue with Western philosophy and Satchidananda Murty's assessment of the state of philosophy in Indian universities. The author argues how both failed to look at the works of Vivekananda, Aurobindo, and Gandhi, who had more successfully engaged with their predecessors as well as 'outsiders'. Finally, the book explores the attempts to absorb Buddhism into Hinduism in the works of Ananda K. Coomaraswamy and S. Radhakrishnan, as well as the counter arguments posed by Ambedkar and T.R.V. Murty. The debates highlighted in this book will make the reader aware of the structures and paradigms of philosophy as practised in India.