Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History
Some postcolonial theorists have argued that the idea of a single system of belief known as "Hinduism" is a creation of nineteenth-century British imperialists. Andrew J. Nicholson introduces another perspective: although the idea of a unified Hindu identity is not as ancient as many Hindu...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Book |
| Language: | English |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
New York
Columbia University Press
2010
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| In: | Year: 2010 |
| Reviews: | Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History. By Andrew Nicholson (2011) (Leach, Robert)
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| Series/Journal: | South Asia Across the Disciplines
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| Further subjects: | B
India - Intellectual life
B Electronic books |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Aggregator) |
| Parallel Edition: | Erscheint auch als: 9780231149860 |
| Summary: | Some postcolonial theorists have argued that the idea of a single system of belief known as "Hinduism" is a creation of nineteenth-century British imperialists. Andrew J. Nicholson introduces another perspective: although the idea of a unified Hindu identity is not as ancient as many Hindus claim, it has its roots in the innovations of South Asian philosophy from the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. Thinkers treated the philosophies of Vedanta, Samkhya, and Yoga and the deities Visnu, Siva, and Sakti as all belonging to a single system of belief and practice& mdash;rivers leading into the ocean of Brahman, the ultimate reality. Drawing on the work of philosophers from late medieval Vedanta traditions, including Vijnanabhiksu, Madhava, and Madhusudana Sarasvati, Nicholson shows how thinkers portrayed Vedanta philosophy as the ultimate unifier of diverse belief systems. This late medieval project paved the way for later visionaries, such as Vivekenanda, Radhakrishnan, and Gandhi, whose teachings promoted the idea that all world religions belonged to a single spiritual unity. Nicholson revisits monism and dualism, theism and atheism, and orthodoxy and heterodoxy, and he critiques such formulas as "the six orthodox systems" that have worked their way into modern thinking about Indian philosophy. Intro -- CONTENTS -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- 1. INTRODUCTION -- Contesting the Unity of Hinduism -- Vijñanabhiks˙u and His Late Medieval Milieu -- Doxography and Method -- Premodern Philosophy in a Postcolonial World -- 2. AN ALTERNATIVE HISTORYOF VEDĀNTA -- Vedanta and Orientalist Historiography -- Early Bhedabheda Vedanta -- Bhedabheda Vedanta After Sankara -- The Future of Bhedabheda Vedanta -- 3. VIJÑĀNABHIKSU'S "DIFFERENCEAND NON-DIFFERENCE" VEDĀNTA -- The Meaning of "Bhedabheda" -- Self and Brahman as Part and Whole -- Brahman's Causality in Advaita and Bhedabheda Vedanta -- Bhedabheda and the Unity of Philosophies -- 4. A HISTORY OF GOD IN SĀMKHYA AND YOGA -- Samkhya: An Atheist Philosophy? -- Theism in Early Samkhya and the Puranas -- Atheism and Theism in "Classical" Samkhya -- Samkhya and Yoga -- 5. READING AGAINST THE GRAIN OF THE SĀMKHYASŪTRAS -- Atheism in the Samkhyasutras -- Kapila's "Bold Assertion" as Speech Act -- Degrees of Deception in Samkhya and the Puranas -- Disproving God in the Samkhyasutras -- 6. YOGA, PRAXIS, AND LIBERATION -- The Excellence of the Yogic Path -- Karma and Embodied Liberation -- The Unity of Yoga and Vedanta Soteriologies -- 7. VEDĀNTA AND SĀMKHYA IN THE ORIENTALIST IMAGINATION -- Indian Philosophy and the Critique of Orientalism -- Colebrooke and Gough: The Struggle For the Essence of Vedanta -- Paul Deussen and the Influence of German Idealism -- Richard Garbe: Samkhya as the Foundation of Indian Philosophy -- Orientalism and Modern Hindu Thought -- 8. DOXOGRAPHY, CLASSIFICATORY SCHEMES, AND CONTESTED HISTORIES -- Doxography as a Genre -- Early Models for Doxography in India: Cattanar and Bhaviveka -- Haribhadra, Jainism, and The Six Systems -- Madhava and the Influenceof Advaita Doxography -- Madhusudana Sarasvati: Foreignness and the Philosophical Other. |
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| Item Description: | Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources |
| ISBN: | 0231526423 |