Customer Reviews

INDIAN PHILOSOPHY: A Very Short Introduction

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am a big fan of the entire "Very Short Introduction' series, and have read several dozens of them. However, even in that field of mostly outstanding introductory books, this one stands out. I cannot give it enough praise. This is an eminently readable yet extremely intellectually stimulating book. It manages to convey the full richness and subtlety of Indian philosophical tradition, or at least as much of it as can fit in this format. Hamilton takes us through the historical development of the Indian philosophical thought, linking each new development to the previous ones, and emphasizes its significance. This is the first book that has convinced me that there are highly sophisticated philosophical traditions that have emerged outside of the Greco-Roman world. It would be of interest to anyone interested in philosophy, and not just for those interested in Indian thought. I highly recommend this book.

Many of the negative reviews of this EXTREMELY USEFUL overview are highly sectarian. They typically confuse the general stream of Indian religous thought with parts of classical Indian thought that might be especially of interest to Western-trained PHILOSOPHERS. Philosophers and academic philosophy students comprise Hamilton's intended audience, and, for that audience, Hamilton could not have done a better job in the space this series afforded her. For what it is, I could not recommend anything on the market more highly than Hamilton's book.

This excellent entry in the VSI series would serve as a good introduction to philosophy in general, as it takes pains to define terms like metaphysics, epistemology, exegesis and soteriology, basic terminology that might be new to the non-specialist. It is a scholarly but very readable account, with useful illustrations.

In the nineteenth century, specific schools of thought were presented to the West as 'Hinduism' or 'Indian philosophy', and these views - polytheistic and monistic - are very often still regarded as representative. This is rather like presenting Lutheranism as 'European religion' and Existentialism as 'European philosophy'. Another excellent book in this series - Hinduism, by Kim Knott - corrects the first misapprehension, and this present book corrects the second.

Philosophy and religion have combined in Indian thought in a way that differs from the Western tradition - at least, since Kant and the Enlightenment. Thus, a work like this invites us to approach philosophical enquiry in a new way, or at least to recognize an alternative approach.

Like all the authors in this series, Hamilton has the problem of encapsulating a vast subject into a small space. In Chapter 1, the author describes the selections she has made and why she has made them - in particular, why she chose to exclude Jainism. The book concentrates on the classical period beginning in the 5th century BC (interestingly, a history of Western philosophy would likely begin in the same era, with the same backward glance at the religious and mythical traditions from which it evolved). The 6 classical darsanas are mentioned, and enough authors and texts are referenced to give you plenty of scope for further study, if you wished.

Highly recommended.
[PeterReeve]

Contrary to what another reviewer wrote, the book mentions the Bhagavad Gita as one of the canonical texts of certain Indian transitions. Prof. Hamilton warns against taking the positions of a particular strand of Indian thought and saying "this is true Hinduism."

Indeed, she questions whether Hinduism is a useful concept for discussing the historic traditions of India. Various forms of what we call Hinduism are very much at odds with each other and have different sources for their beliefs. For some the Vedantas are the core of Indian spirituality, for others it is the Gita.

I'm not sure I can agree with the various reviews of this work that are critical of its content do to an apparent 'Buddhist bias'--I didn't find this present within the author's writing or selection of materials. However, I will note that the exclusion of the Gita was a rather odd overlooking, particularly because Hamilton made no real effort to show why she excluded it. Even so, I want to emphasize that this is a well-written and helpful history of Indian Philosophy, and the author is careful to offer and re-offer a growing chronology throughout the work. As other writers have praised/criticized, she tries to make the history as logical as possible, and while this isn't quite consistent with the actual nature of Indian Philosophy (as the author freely admits) it does make the work flow far more smoothly.

The strength of this book is its organization and clarity, qualities very hard to come by in this field. An excellent introduction, not for someone looking for religion, but for someone looking to discover the depth and diversity of philosophical thought that developed in India over a 4 thousand year period. Despite its "very short" length one should read it slowly. This is not for a believer in Buddhism or Hinduism who wants some spiritual reading. Excellent nonetheless.

The book is not what I expected. I expected an "organized account" of the schools of thought in India and not a history of Indian philosophy written in an analytic fashion. I skimmed through the rest of the chapters after reading Chapter 3, "The Buddha's Middle Way." It is the most useful chapter as it represented what the Buddha taught. I am not sure where this book belongs: in the trash or on my book shelf. Don't waste your money on Hamiliton's book. Michael Carrither's "Buddha" (VSI series) is worth buying.

This book is difficult for me to recommend for the average person. Despite it's size, the writing style and editing suffers from trying to be too logical in order to make the topic accessible to the non-specialist. By this, I mean that the narrative flow of the book has the sense of being enforced from the outside. You feel as if something is missing. The result is that the book comes across as being something similar to a summary report for graduate students or their professors. The depth and vitality that is suggested as being part and parcel of the history and tradition of Indian philosophical thought is missing. While such an approach may be acceptable for the specialist, for the lay person, it is quite the turn-off. For what it is worth, my advice for any future editions would be to put a bit more humanity and creativity into the writing.

Can u imagine a book on indian philosophies without a single mention about bhagavat-gita!!!!

This itself makes this book heavily pro-Buddhist!! No wonder, author's bio does indicate that she is a Buddhism scholar. I hope at least scholars could take an OBJECTIVE UN-BIASED stand.

sorry!