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Eastern philosophy

For the album by Apathy, see Eastern Philosophy

(album).

Eastern philosophy or Asian philosophy

includes the various philosophies that
originated in East and South Asia including
Chinese philosophy, Japanese philosophy, and
Korean philosophy which are dominant in East
Asia and Vietnam,[1] and Indian philosophy
(including Buddhist philosophy) which are
dominant in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Tibet
and Mongolia.[2][3]

Indian philosophy

Main article: Indian philosophy

Further information: Hinduism and Hindu philosophy

An ancient image of Valluvar

Indian philosophy refers to ancient

philosophical traditions (Sanskrit: dárśana;
'world views', 'teachings')[4] of the Indian
subcontinent. Jainism may have roots dating
back to the times of the Indus Valley
Civilization.[5][6][7] The major orthodox schools
arose sometime between the start of the
Common Era and the Gupta Empire.[8] These
Hindu schools developed what has been called
the "Hindu synthesis" merging orthodox
Brahmanical and unorthodox elements from
Buddhism and Jainism.[9] Hindu thought also
spread east to the Indonesian Srivijaya empire
and the Cambodian Khmer Empire. These
religio-philosophical traditions were later
grouped under the label Hinduism. Hinduism is
the dominant religion, or way of life,[note 1] in
South Asia. It includes Shaivism, Vaishnavism
and Shaktism[12] among numerous other
traditions, and a wide spectrum of laws and
prescriptions of "daily morality" based on
karma, dharma, and societal norms. Hinduism
is a categorization of distinct intellectual or
philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid,
common set of beliefs.[13] Hinduism, with
about one billion followers[14] is the world's
third largest religion, after Christianity and
Islam. Hinduism has been called the "oldest
religion" in the world and is traditionally called
Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal law" or the
"eternal way";[15][16][17] beyond human
origins.[17] Western scholars regard Hinduism
as a fusion[note 2] or synthesis[18][note 3][18] of
various Indian cultures and traditions,[19][20][21]
with diverse roots[22][note 4] and no single
founder.[27]

Some of the earliest surviving philosophical

texts are the Upanishads of the later Vedic
period (1000–500 BCE). Important Indian
philosophical concepts include dharma, karma,
samsara, moksha and ahimsa. Indian
philosophers developed a system of
epistemological reasoning (pramana) and logic
and investigated topics such as Ontology
(metaphysics, Brahman-Atman, Sunyata-
Anatta), reliable means of knowledge
(epistemology, Pramanas), value system
(axiology) and other topics.[28][29][30] Indian
philosophy also covered topics such as
political philosophy as seen in the Arthashastra
c. 4th century BCE and the philosophy of love
as seen in the Kama Sutra. The Kural literature
of c. 1st century BCE, written by the Tamil
poet-philosopher Valluvar, is believed by many
scholars to be based on Jain
philosophies.[31][32]

Later developments include the development

of Tantra and Iranian-Islamic influences.
Buddhism mostly disappeared from India after
the Muslim conquest in the Indian
subcontinent, surviving in the Himalayan
regions and south India.[33] The early modern
period saw the flourishing of Navya-Nyāya (the
'new reason') under philosophers such as
Raghunatha Siromani (c. 1460–1540) who
founded the tradition, Jayarama Pancanana,
Mahadeva Punatamakara and Yashovijaya (who
formulated a Jain response).[34]

Orthodox schools

The principal Indian philosophical schools are

classified as either orthodox or heterodox –
āstika or nāstika – depending on one of three
alternate criteria: whether it believes the Vedas
are a valid source of knowledge; whether the
school believes in the premises of Brahman
and Atman; and whether the school believes in
afterlife and Devas.[35][36]

There are six major schools of orthodox Indian

Hindu philosophy—Nyaya, Vaisheshika,
Samkhya, Yoga, Mīmāṃsā and Vedanta, and
five major heterodox schools—Jain, Buddhist,
Ajivika, Ajñana, and Cārvāka. However, there
are other methods of classification; Vidyaranya
for instance identifies sixteen schools of Hindu
Indian philosophy by including those that
belong to the Śaiva and Raseśvara
traditions.[37][38]

Each school of Hindu philosophy has extensive

epistemological literature called Pramana-
sastras.[39][40]

In Hindu history, the distinction of the six

orthodox schools was current in the Gupta
period "golden age" of Hinduism. With the
disappearance of Vaisheshika and Mīmāṃsā, it
became obsolete by the later Middle Ages,
when the various sub-schools of Vedanta
(Dvaita "dualism", Advaita Vedanta "non-
dualism" and others) began to rise to
prominence as the main divisions of religious
philosophy. Nyaya survived into the 17th
century as Navya Nyaya "Neo-Nyaya", while
Samkhya gradually lost its status as an
independent school, its tenets absorbed into
Yoga and Vedanta.

Sāmkhya and Yoga

King Amsuman and the

yogic sage Kapila. The
Samkhya school
traditionally traces itself
back to sage Kapila.

Sāmkhya is a dualist philosophical tradition

based on the Samkhyakarika (c. 320–540
CE),[41] while the Yoga school was a closely
related tradition emphasizing meditation and
liberation whose major text is the Yoga sutras
(c. 400 CE).[42] Elements of proto-Samkhya
ideas can however be traced back all the way
to the period of the early Upanishads.[43] One
of the main differences between the two
closely related schools was that Yoga allowed
for the existence of a God, while most
Sāmkhya thinkers criticized this idea.[44]

Sāmkhya epistemology accepts three of six

pramanas (proofs) as the only reliable means
of gaining knowledge; pratyakṣa (perception),
anumāṇa (inference) and śabda
(word/testimony of reliable sources).[45] The
school developed a complex theoretical
exposition of the evolution of consciousness
and matter. Sāmkhya sources argue that the
universe consists of two realities, puruṣa
(consciousness) and prakṛti (matter).

As shown by the Sāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra (c.

14th century CE), Sāmkhya continued to
develop throughout the medieval period.

Nyāya

The Nyāya school of epistemology, explores

sources of knowledge (Pramāṇa) and is based
on the Nyāya Sūtras (circa 6th-century BCE
and 2nd-century CE).[46] Nyāya holds that
human suffering arises out of ignorance and
liberation arises through correct knowledge.
Therefore, they sought to investigate the
sources of correct knowledge or epistemology.

Nyāya traditionally accepts four Pramanas as

reliable means of gaining knowledge –
Pratyakṣa (perception), Anumāṇa (inference),
Upamāṇa (comparison and analogy) and
Śabda (word, testimony of past or present
reliable experts).[45] Nyāya also traditionally
defended a form of philosophical realism.[47]

The Nyāya Sūtras was a very influential text in

Indian philosophy, laying the foundations for
classical Indian epistemological debates
between the different philosophical schools. It
includes, for example, the classic Hindu
rejoinders against Buddhist not-self (anatta)
arguments.[48] The work also famously argues
against a creator God (Ishvara),[49] a debate
which became central to Hinduism in the
medieval period.

Vaiśeṣika

Vaiśeṣika is a naturalist school of atomism,

which accepts only two sources of knowledge,
perception and inference.[50] This philosophy
held that the universe was reducible to
paramāṇu (atoms), which are indestructible
(anitya), indivisible, and have a special kind of
dimension, called “small” (aṇu). Whatever we
experience is a composite of these atoms.[51]

Vaiśeṣika organized all objects of experience

into what they called padārthas (literally: 'the
meaning of a word') which included six
categories; dravya (substance), guṇa (quality),
karma (activity), sāmānya (generality), viśeṣa
(particularity) and samavāya (inherence). Later
Vaiśeṣikas (Śrīdhara and Udayana and
Śivāditya) added one more category abhava
(non-existence). The first three categories are
defined as artha (which can perceived) and
they have real objective existence. The last
three categories are defined as budhyapekṣam
(product of intellectual discrimination) and they
are logical categories.[52]

Mīmāṃsā

Mīmāṃsā is a school of ritual orthopraxy and is

known for its hermeneutical study and
interpretation of the Vedas.[53] For this
tradition, the study of dharma as rituals and
social duties was paramount. They also held
that the Vedas were "eternal, authorless, [and]
infallible" and that Vedic injunctions and
mantras in rituals are prescriptive actions of
primary importance.[53] Because of their focus
on textual study and interpretation, Mīmāṃsā
also developed theories of philology and the
philosophy of language which influenced other
Indian schools.[54] They primarily held that the
purpose of language was to clearly prescribe
proper actions, rituals and correct dharma
(duty or virtue).[55] Mīmāṃsā is also mainly
atheistic, holding that the evidence for the
existence of God is insufficient and that the
Gods named in the Vedas have no existence
apart from the names, mantras and their
power.[56]

A key text of the Mīmāṃsā school is the

Mīmāṃsā Sūtra of Jaimini and major Mīmāṃsā
scholars include Prabhākara (c. 7th century)
and Kumārila Bhaṭṭa (fl. roughly 700). The
Mīmāṃsā school strongly influenced Vedānta
which was also known as Uttara-Mīmāṃsā,
however while Mīmāṃsā emphasized
karmakāṇḍa, or the study of ritual actions,
using the four early Vedas, the Vedānta
schools emphasized jñanakāṇḍa, the study of
knowledge, using the later parts of Vedas like
the Upaniṣads.[53]

Vedānta

Adi Shankara (8th century

CE) the main exponent of
Advaita Vedānta

Vedānta (meaning "end of the Vedas") or

Uttara-Mīmāṃsā, are a group of traditions
which focus on the philosophical issues found
in the Prasthanatrayi (the three sources),
which are the Principal Upanishads, the
Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.[57]
Vedānta sees the Vedas, particularly the
Upanishads, as a reliable source of knowledge.

The central concern for these schools is the

nature of and relationship between Brahman
(ultimate reality, universal consciousness),
Ātman (individual soul) and Prakriti (empirical
world).

The sub-traditions of Vedānta include Advaita

(non-dualism), Vishishtadvaita (qualified non-
dualism), Dvaita (dualism) and Bhedabheda
(difference and non-difference).[58] Due the
popularity of the bhakti movement, Vedānta
came to be the dominant current of Hinduism
in the post-medieval period.

Other

While the classical enumeration of Indian

philosophies lists six orthodox schools, there
are other schools which are sometimes seen as
orthodox. These include:[37]

Paśupata, an ascetic school of Shaivism

founded by Lakulisha (~2nd century CE).

Śaiva Siddhānta, a school of dualistic

Shaivism which was strongly influenced by
Samkhya.

Pratyabhijña (recognition) school of

Utpaladeva (10th century) and
Abhinavagupta (975–1025 CE), a form of
non-dual Shaiva tantra.

Raseśvara, the mercurial school

Pāṇini Darśana, the grammarian school

(which clarifies the theory of Sphoṭa)

Heterodox or Śramaṇic
schools
Main article: Śramaṇa

The nāstika or heterodox schools are

associated with the non-vedic Śramaṇic
traditions that existed in India since before the
6th century BCE.[59] The Śramaṇa movement
gave rise to diverse range of non-vedic ideas,
ranging from accepting or denying the
concepts of atman, atomism, materialism,
atheism, agnosticism, fatalism to free will,
extreme asceticism, strict ahimsa (non-
violence) and vegetarianism.[60] Notable
philosophies that arose from Śramaṇic
movement were Jainism, early Buddhism,
Cārvāka, Ajñana and Ājīvika.[61]

Jain philosophy

Jain philosophy deals extensively with the

problems of metaphysics, reality, cosmology,
ontology, epistemology and divinity. Jainism is
essentially a transtheistic religion of ancient
India.[62]:182 It continues the ancient Śramaṇa
tradition, which co-existed with the Vedic
tradition since ancient times.[63][64] The
distinguishing features of Jain philosophy
includes a mind-body dualism, denial of a
creative and omnipotent God, karma, an
eternal and uncreated universe, non-violence,
the theory of the multiple facets of truth, and a
morality based on liberation of the soul. Jain
philosophy attempts to explain the rationale of
being and existence, the nature of the Universe
and its constituents, the nature of bondage
and the means to achieve liberation.[65] It has
often been described as an ascetic movement
for its strong emphasis on self-control,
austerities and renunciation.[66] It has also
been called a model of philosophical liberalism
for its insistence that truth is relative and
multifaceted and for its willingness to
accommodate all possible view-points of the
rival philosophies.[67] Jainism strongly upholds
the individualistic nature of soul and personal
responsibility for one's decisions; and that self-
reliance and individual efforts alone are
responsible for one's liberation.[68]

The contribution of the Jains in the

development of Indian philosophy has been
significant. Jain philosophical concepts like
Ahimsa, Karma, Moksa, Samsara and the like
are common with other Indian religions like
Hinduism and Buddhism in various forms.[69]
While Jainism traces its philosophy from
teachings of Mahavira and other Tirthankaras,
various Jain philosophers from Kundakunda
and Umasvati in ancient times to Yasovijaya
and Shrimad Rajchandra in recent times have
contributed to Indian philosophical discourse in
uniquely Jain ways.

Cārvāka

Cārvāka or Lokāyata was an atheistic

philosophy of scepticism and materialism, who
rejected the Vedas and all associated
supernatural doctrines.[70] Cārvāka
philosophers like Brihaspati were extremely
critical of other schools of philosophy of the
time. Cārvāka deemed the Vedas to be tainted
by the three faults of untruth, self-
contradiction, and tautology.[71] They declared
the Vedas to be incoherent rhapsodies
invented by man whose only usefulness was to
provide livelihood to priests.[72]

Likewise they faulted Buddhists and Jains,

mocking the concept of liberation,
reincarnation and accumulation of merit or
demerit through karma.[73] They believed that,
the viewpoint of relinquishing pleasure to avoid
pain was the "reasoning of fools".[71] Cārvāka
epistemology holds perception as the primary
source of knowledge, while rejecting inference
which can be invalid.[74] The primary texts of
Cārvāka, like the Barhaspatya sutras (c. 600
BCE) have been lost.[75]

Ājīvika

Ājīvika was founded by Makkhali Gosala, it was

a Śramaṇa movement and a major rival of early
Buddhism and Jainism.[76]

Original scriptures of the Ājīvika school of

philosophy may once have existed, but these
are currently unavailable and probably lost.
Their theories are extracted from mentions of
Ajivikas in the secondary sources of ancient
Hindu Indian literature, particularly those of
Jainism and Buddhism which polemically
criticized the Ajivikas.[77] The Ājīvika school is
known for its Niyati doctrine of absolute
determinism (fate), the premise that there is no
free will, that everything that has happened, is
happening and will happen is entirely
preordained and a function of cosmic
principles.[77][78] Ājīvika considered the karma
doctrine as a fallacy.[79] Ājīvikas were
atheists[80] and rejected the authority of the
Vedas, but they believed that in every living
being is an ātman – a central premise of
Hinduism and Jainism.[81][82]

Ajñana

Ajñana was a Śramaṇa school of radical Indian

skepticism and a rival of early Buddhism and
Jainism. They held that it was impossible to
obtain knowledge of metaphysical nature or
ascertain the truth value of philosophical
propositions;[83] and even if knowledge was
possible, it was useless and disadvantageous
for final salvation. They were seen as sophists
who specialized in refutation without
propagating any positive doctrine of their own.
Jayarāśi Bhaṭṭa (fl. c. 800), author of the
skeptical work entitled Tattvopaplavasiṃha
("The Lion that Devours All Categories"/"The
Upsetting of All Principles"), has been seen as
an important Ajñana philosopher.[84]

Sikh philosophy
Main article: Sikh religious philosophy

Sikhism is an Indian religion developed by Guru

Nanak (1469–1539) in the Punjab region during
the Mughal Era. Their main sacred text is the
Guru Granth Sahib. The fundamental beliefs
include constant spiritual meditation of God's
name, being guided by the Guru instead of
yielding to capriciousness, living a
householder's life instead of monasticism,
truthful action to dharam (righteousness, moral
duty), equality of all human beings, and
believing in God's grace.[85][86] Key concepts
include Simran, Sewa, the Three Pillars of
Sikhism, and the Five Thieves.

Modern Indian philosophy

From left to right: Virchand Gandhi,

Anagarika Dharmapala, Swami
Vivekananda, (possibly) G. Bonet
Maury. Parliament of World
Religions, 1893

In response to colonialism and their contact

with Western philosophy, 19th century Indians
developed new ways of thinking now termed
Neo-Vedanta and Hindu modernism. Their
ideas focused on the universality of Indian
philosophy (particularly Vedanta) and the unity
of different religions. It was during this period
that Hindu modernists presented a single
idealized and united "Hinduism." exemplified by
the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta.[87] They
were also influenced by Western ideas.[88] The
first of these movements was that of the
Brahmo Samaj of Ram Mohan Roy (1772–
1833).[89] Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902)
was very influential in developing the Hindu
reform movements and in bringing the
worldview to the West.[90] Through the work of
Indians like Vivekananda as well as westerners
such as the proponents of the Theosophical
society, modern Hindu thought also had an
influence on western culture.[91]

The political thought of Hindu nationalism is

also another important current in modern
Indian thought. The work of Mahatma Gandhi,
Rabindranath Tagore, Aurobindo, Krishna
Chandra Bhattacharya and Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan have had a large impact on
modern Indian philosophy.[92]

Jainism also had its modern interpreters and

defenders, such as Virchand Gandhi, Champat
Rai Jain, and Shrimad Rajchandra (well known
as a spiritual guide of Mahatma Gandhi).

Buddhist philosophies

Main articles: Buddhist philosophy and Buddhist ethics

The Buddhist Nalanda university and

monastery was a major center of
learning in India from the 5th century
CE to c. 1200.

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