HUMAN ACT,CONSCIOUSNESS & PROB OF REP-PD

Peter Adamson and Jonardon Ganeri present a lively introduction to one of the worlds richest intellectual traditions the philosophy of classical India. They begin with the earliest extant literature the Vedas and the explanatory works that these inspired known as Upani?ads. They also discuss other famous texts of classical Vedic culture especially the Mahabharata and its most notable section the BhagavadGita alongside the rise of Buddhism and Jainism. In this opening section Adamson and Ganeri emphasize the way that philosophy was practiced as a form of life in search of liberation from suffering. Next the pair move on to the explosion of philosophical speculation devoted to foundational texts called sutras discussing such traditions as the logical and epistemological Nyaya school the monism of Advaita Vedanta and the spiritual discipline of Yoga. In the final section of the book they chart further developments within Buddhism highlighting Nagarjunas radical critique of nondependent concepts and the noself philosophy of mind found in authors like Dignaga and within Jainism focusing especially on its standpoint epistemology. Unlike other introductions that cover the main schools and positions in classical Indian philosophy Adamson and Ganeris lively guide also pays attention to philosophical themes such as nonviolence political authority and the status of women while considering textual traditions typically left out of overviews of Indian thought like the Carvaka school Tantra and aesthetic theory as well. Adamson and Ganeri conclude by focusing on the muchdebated question of whether Indian philosophy may have influenced ancient Greek philosophy and from there evaluate the impact that this area of philosophy had on later Western thought.