Eastern philosophy (also called Asian philosophy or Oriental philosophy) includes the various
philosophies that originated in
East
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
and
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
, including
Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy (Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 中国哲学; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 中國哲學) refers to the philosophical traditions that originated and developed within the historical ...
,
Japanese philosophy,
Korean philosophy, and
Vietnamese philosophy, which are dominant in East Asia;
and
Indian philosophy
Indian philosophy consists of philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The philosophies are often called darśana meaning, "to see" or "looking at." Ānvīkṣikī means “critical inquiry” or “investigation." Unlike darśan ...
(including
Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of philosophical systems that developed in tandem with the first Hinduism, Hindu religious traditions during the Iron Age in India, iron and Classical India, classical ages of India. In Indian ...
,
Jain philosophy
Jain philosophy or Jaina philosophy refers to the Ancient India, ancient Indian Indian philosophy, philosophical system of the Jainism, Jain religion. It comprises all the Philosophy, philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that dev ...
,
Buddhist philosophy), which are dominant in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
,
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
,
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and
Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
.
Indian philosophy
Indian philosophy
Indian philosophy consists of philosophical traditions of the Indian subcontinent. The philosophies are often called darśana meaning, "to see" or "looking at." Ānvīkṣikī means “critical inquiry” or “investigation." Unlike darśan ...
refers to
ancient
Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient h ...
philosophical traditions (; 'world views', 'teachings') of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
.
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
may have roots dating back to the times of the
Indus Valley civilization
The Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC), also known as the Indus Civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in the northwestern regions of South Asia, lasting from 3300 BCE to 1300 BCE, and in its mature form from 2600 BCE ...
. The major orthodox schools arose sometime between the start of the
Common Era
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the ...
and the
Gupta Empire
The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...
. These Hindu schools developed what has been called the "Hindu synthesis" merging orthodox
Brahmanical and unorthodox elements from Buddhism and
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
. 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 an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
. Hinduism is the dominant religion, or way of life, in
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
. It includes
Shaivism
Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million H ...
,
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the majo ...
, and
Shaktism among numerous
other traditions, and a wide spectrum of
laws and prescriptions of "daily morality" based on
karma
Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...
,
dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
, and societal norms. Hinduism is a categorization of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, common set of beliefs. Hinduism, with about one billion followers is the
world's third-largest religion, after
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
and
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
. Hinduism has been called the "
oldest religion" in the world and is traditionally called ''
'', "the eternal
law" or the "eternal way"; beyond human origins. Western scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no single founder.
Some of the earliest surviving philosophical texts are the
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...
of the
later Vedic period (1000–500 BCE). Important Indian philosophical concepts include
dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
,
karma
Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...
,
samsara,
moksha, and
ahimsa
(, IAST: , ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings. It is a key virtue in Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism.
(also spelled Ahinsa) is one of the cardinal vi ...
. Indian philosophers developed a system of epistemological reasoning (
pramana) and logic and investigated topics such as
Ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...
(
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
,
Brahman
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...
-
Atman,
Sunyata-
Anatta), reliable means of knowledge (
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
,
Pramanas), value system (
axiology) and other topics. Indian philosophy also covered topics such as political philosophy as seen in the
Arthashastra
''Kautilya's Arthashastra'' (, ; ) is an Ancient Indian Sanskrit treatise on statecraft, politics, economic policy and military strategy. The text is likely the work of several authors over centuries, starting as a compilation of ''Arthashas ...
c. 4th century BCE and the philosophy of love as seen in the
Kama Sutra. The
Kural literature of the post-
Sangam period
The Sangam literature ( Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' ( Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ''), connote ...
between c. 1st century BCE and 5th century CE, written by the
Tamil poet-philosopher
Valluvar
Thiruvalluvar commonly known as Valluvar, was a Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love. The text is considered an exc ...
, is believed by many scholars to be based on
Jain or
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
philosophies.
Later developments include the development of
Tantra
Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the India, Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism.
The term ''tantra'', in the Greater India, Indian tr ...
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. 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).
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
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
are a valid source of knowledge; whether the school believes in the premises of
Brahman
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...
and
Atman; and whether the school believes in afterlife and
Devas.
There are six major schools of orthodox Indian
Hindu philosophy
Hindu philosophy or Vedic philosophy is the set of philosophical systems that developed in tandem with the first Hinduism, Hindu religious traditions during the Iron Age in India, iron and Classical India, classical ages of India. In Indian ...
—
Nyaya
Nyāya (Sanskrit: न्यायः, IAST: nyāyaḥ), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment", is one of the six orthodox (Āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Nyāya's most significant contributions to Indian philosophy ...
,
Vaisheshika,
Samkhya,
Yoga
Yoga (UK: , US: ; 'yoga' ; ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines that originated with its own philosophy in ancient India, aimed at controlling body and mind to attain various salvation goals, as pra ...
,
Mīmāṃsā and
Vedanta, and five major heterodox schools—
Jain,
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
,
Ajivika,
Ajñana
''Ajñāna'' (, (Vedic) IPA: /ɐd͡ʑ.ɲɑː.nɐ/; (Classical) IPA: /ɐd͡ʑˈɲɑː.n̪ɐ/) was one of the Āstika and nāstika, ''nāstika'' or "heterodox" schools of Hindu philosophy, ancient Indian philosophy, and the ancient school of rad ...
, 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.
[Cowell, E.B.; Gough, A.E. (1882). Sarva-Darsana Sangraha of Madhava Acharya: Review of Different Systems of Hindu Philosophy. New Delhi: Indian Books Centre/Sri Satguru Publications. , p. xii.][Nicholson, pp. 158–162.]
Each school of Hindu philosophy has extensive
epistemological
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowled ...
literature called ''
Pramana-sastras''.
[Karl Potter (2002), Presuppositions of India's Philosophies, Motilal Banarsidass, , pp. 25–26][ P Bilimoria (1993), Pramāṇa epistemology: Some recent developments, in Asian philosophy – Volume 7 (Editor: G Floistad), Springer, , pp. 137–154]
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
Sāmkhya is a
dualist philosophical tradition based on the
Samkhyakarika (c. 320–540 CE), while the
Yoga school was a closely related tradition emphasizing
meditation and
liberation whose major text is the
Yoga sutras (c. 400 CE). Elements of proto-Samkhya ideas can, however, be traced back to the period of the early
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...
. 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.
Sāmkhya
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
accepts three of six
pramanas (proofs) as the only reliable means of gaining knowledge; ''pratyakṣa'' (
perception
Perception () is the organization, identification, and interpretation of sensory information in order to represent and understand the presented information or environment. All perception involves signals that go through the nervous syste ...
), ''anumāṇa'' (
inference
Inferences are steps in logical reasoning, moving from premises to logical consequences; etymologically, the word '' infer'' means to "carry forward". Inference is theoretically traditionally divided into deduction and induction, a distinct ...
) and ''śabda'' (word/testimony of reliable sources).
[John A. Grimes, A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English, State University of New York Press, , p. 238] The school developed a complex theoretical exposition of the evolution of
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...
and
matter
In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic pa ...
. Sāmkhya sources argue that the universe consists of two realities,
puruṣa (
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...
) and
prakṛti (
matter
In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic pa ...
).
As shown by the ''
Sāṁkhyapravacana Sūtra'' (c. 14th century CE), Sāmkhya continued to develop throughout the medieval period.
Nyāya
The Nyāya school of
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
explores
sources of knowledge
Knowledge is an Declarative knowledge, awareness of facts, a Knowledge by acquaintance, familiarity with individuals and situations, or a Procedural knowledge, practical skill. Knowledge of facts, also called propositional knowledge, is oft ...
(''Pramāṇa'') and is based on the ''
Nyāya Sūtras
The ''Nyāya Sūtras'' is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text composed by , and the foundational text of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy. The date when the text was composed, and the biography of its author is unknown, but variously estim ...
'' (circa 6th century BCE and 2nd century CE).
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).
Nyāya also traditionally defended a form of philosophical
realism.
The ''
Nyāya Sūtras
The ''Nyāya Sūtras'' is an ancient Indian Sanskrit text composed by , and the foundational text of the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy. The date when the text was composed, and the biography of its author is unknown, but variously estim ...
'' 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. The work also famously argues against a creator God (
Ishvara), 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. This philosophy held that the universe was reducible to ''paramāṇu'' (
atom
Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...
s), which are indestructible (''anitya''), indivisible, and have a special kind of dimension, called "small" (''aṇu''). Whatever we experience is a composite of these atoms.
Vaiśeṣika organized all objects of experience into what they called ''padārtha''s (literally: 'the meaning of a word') which included six categories; ''dravya'' (substance), ''guṇa'' (quality), ''karma'' (activity), ''sāmānya'' (generality), ''viśeṣa'' (particularity) and ''samavāya'' (inherence). Later ''Vaiśeṣika''s (''Śrīdhara'' and Udayana and ''Śivāditya'') added one more category ''
abhava'' (non-existence). The first three categories are defined as ''artha'' (which can be perceived) and they have real objective existence. The last three categories are defined as ''budhyapekṣam'' (product of intellectual discrimination) and they are logical categories.
Mīmāṃsā
Mīmāṃsā is a school of ritual
orthopraxy and is known for its
hermeneutical study and interpretation of the
Vedas
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
.
[Oliver Leaman (2006), Shruti, in ''Encyclopaedia of Asian Philosophy'', Routledge, , p. 503] For this tradition, the study of ''
dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
'' as ritual and social duty was paramount. They also held that the Vedas were "eternal, authorless,
ndinfallible" and that Vedic injunctions and
mantras in rituals are prescriptive actions of primary importance.
Because of their focus on textual study and interpretation, Mīmāṃsā also developed theories of
philology
Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...
and the
philosophy of language
Philosophy of language refers to the philosophical study of the nature of language. It investigates the relationship between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of Meaning (philosophy), me ...
which influenced other Indian schools. They primarily held that the purpose of language was to correctly ''prescribe'' proper actions, rituals, and correct
dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
(duty or virtue). 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.
A key text of the Mīmāṃsā school is the
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra of
Jaimini and major Mīmāṃsā scholars include
Prabhākara
Prabhakara ( IAST: ''Prabhākara'') active c. 6th century was an Indian philosopher-grammarian in the Mīmāṃsā tradition of Kerala.
Probable date
Hariswamin's commentary on Shatapatha Brahmana which dates to 638 CE discusses the doctri ...
(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
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
, the Vedānta schools emphasized ''jñanakāṇḍa'', the study of knowledge, using the later parts of Vedas like the
Upaniṣads.
Vedānta
Vedānta (meaning "end of the
Vedas
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
") 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
The Bhagavad Gita (; ), often referred to as the Gita (), is a Hindu texts, Hindu scripture, dated to the second or first century BCE, which forms part of the Hindu epic, epic poem Mahabharata. The Gita is a synthesis of various strands of Ind ...
.''
Vedānta sees the Vedas, particularly the
Upanishads
The Upanishads (; , , ) are late Vedic and post-Vedic Sanskrit texts that "document the transition from the archaic ritualism of the Veda into new religious ideas and institutions" and the emergence of the central religious concepts of Hind ...
, as a reliable source of knowledge.
The central concern for these schools is the nature of and the relationship between ''
Brahman
In Hinduism, ''Brahman'' (; IAST: ''Brahman'') connotes the highest universal principle, the ultimate reality of the universe.P. T. Raju (2006), ''Idealistic Thought of India'', Routledge, , page 426 and Conclusion chapter part XII In the ...
'' (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). Due to the popularity of the
bhakti movement
The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of Bhakti, devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6t ...
,
Vedānta came to be the dominant current of
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
in the post-medieval period.
Other
While the classical enumeration of Indian philosophies lists six orthodox schools, there are other schools that are sometimes seen as orthodox. These include:
*
Paśupata, an
ascetic school of Shaivism founded by
Lakulisha (≈2nd century CE).
*
Śaiva Siddhānta, a school of dualistic
Shaivism
Shaivism (, , ) is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Para Brahman, supreme being. It is the Hinduism#Demographics, second-largest Hindu sect after Vaishnavism, constituting about 385 million H ...
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
Tantra (; ) is an esoteric yogic tradition that developed on the India, Indian subcontinent beginning in the middle of the 1st millennium CE, first within Shaivism and later in Buddhism.
The term ''tantra'', in the Greater India, Indian tr ...
.
*
Raseśvara, the mercurial school
*
Pāṇini
(; , ) was a Sanskrit grammarian, logician, philologist, and revered scholar in ancient India during the mid-1st millennium BCE, dated variously by most scholars between the 6th–5th and 4th century BCE.
The historical facts of his life ar ...
Darśana, the grammarian school (which clarifies the theory of
Sphoṭa)
Heterodox or Śramaṇic schools
The nāstika or heterodox schools are associated with the non-Vedic
Śramaṇic traditions that existed in India since before the 6th century BCE.
[Reginald Ray (1999), Buddhist Saints in India, Oxford University Press, , pp. 237–240, 247–249] The
Śramaṇa movement gave rise to a 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
(, IAST: , ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings. It is a key virtue in Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism.
(also spelled Ahinsa) is one of the cardinal vi ...
(non-violence) and
vegetarianism
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
. Notable philosophies that arose from
Śramaṇic movement were
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
,
early Buddhism,
Cārvāka,
Ajñana
''Ajñāna'' (, (Vedic) IPA: /ɐd͡ʑ.ɲɑː.nɐ/; (Classical) IPA: /ɐd͡ʑˈɲɑː.n̪ɐ/) was one of the Āstika and nāstika, ''nāstika'' or "heterodox" schools of Hindu philosophy, ancient Indian philosophy, and the ancient school of rad ...
, and
Ājīvika.
Jain philosophy
Jain philosophy
Jain philosophy or Jaina philosophy refers to the Ancient India, ancient Indian Indian philosophy, philosophical system of the Jainism, Jain religion. It comprises all the Philosophy, philosophical investigations and systems of inquiry that dev ...
deals extensively with the problems of
metaphysics
Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...
,
reality
Reality is the sum or aggregate of everything in existence; everything that is not imagination, imaginary. Different Culture, cultures and Academic discipline, academic disciplines conceptualize it in various ways.
Philosophical questions abo ...
,
cosmology
Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...
,
ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...
,
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
, and
divinity
Divinity (from Latin ) refers to the quality, presence, or nature of that which is divine—a term that, before the rise of monotheism, evoked a broad and dynamic field of sacred power. In the ancient world, divinity was not limited to a single ...
.
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
is essentially a
transtheistic religion of ancient India. It continues the ancient
tradition, which co-existed with the
Vedic tradition since ancient times. The distinguishing features of Jain philosophy include a
mind-body dualism, denial of a
creative and
omnipotent God,
karma
Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...
, an
eternal and uncreated universe,
non-violence, the theory of the
multiple facets of truth, and 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 the bondage and the means to achieve liberation.
It has often been described as an
ascetic movement for its strong emphasis on self-control, austerities, and renunciation. It has also been called a model of philosophical
liberalism
Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...
for its insistence that truth is relative and multifaceted and for its willingness to accommodate all possible view-points of the rival philosophies. Jainism strongly upholds the individualistic nature of the soul and personal responsibility for one's decisions, and that self-reliance and individual efforts alone are responsible for one's liberation.
The contribution of the Jains in the development of Indian philosophy has been significant. Jain philosophical concepts like
Ahimsa
(, IAST: , ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings. It is a key virtue in Indian religions like Jainism, Buddhism and Hinduism.
(also spelled Ahinsa) is one of the cardinal vi ...
,
Karma
Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...
,
Moksa,
Samsara, and the like are common with other
Indian religions like
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
and
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
in various forms.
While Jainism traces its philosophy from teachings of
Mahavira
Mahavira (Devanagari: महावीर, ), also known as Vardhamana (Devanagari: वर्धमान, ), was the 24th ''Tirthankara'' (Supreme Preacher and Ford Maker) of Jainism. Although the dates and most historical details of his lif ...
and other
Tirthankara
In Jainism, a ''Tirthankara'' (; ) is a saviour and supreme preacher of the ''Dharma (Jainism), dharma'' (righteous path). The word ''tirthankara'' signifies the founder of a ''Tirtha (Jainism), tirtha'', a fordable passage across ''Saṃsā ...
s, 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
Materialism is a form of monism, philosophical monism according to which matter is the fundamental Substance theory, substance in nature, and all things, including mind, mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. Acco ...
, who rejected the
Vedas
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
and all associated supernatural doctrines. 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.
[Cowell, E.B.; Gough, A.E. (1882). Sarva-Darsana Sangraha of Madhava Acharya: Review of Different Systems of Hindu Philosophy. New Delhi: Indian Books Centre/Sri Satguru Publications. , pp. xii, 4] They declared the Vedas to be incoherent rhapsodies invented by humans whose only usefulness was to provide a livelihood to priests.
Likewise, they faulted Buddhists and Jains, mocking the concept of
liberation,
reincarnation
Reincarnation, also known as rebirth or transmigration, is the Philosophy, philosophical or Religion, religious concept that the non-physical essence of a living being begins a new lifespan (disambiguation), lifespan in a different physical ...
, and accumulation of
merit or demerit through karma. They believed the viewpoint of relinquishing pleasure to avoid pain was the "reasoning of fools".
Cārvāka
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
holds perception as the primary source of knowledge while rejecting inference which can be invalid. The primary texts of
Cārvāka, like the
Barhaspatya sutras (c. 600 BCE) have been lost.
Ājīvika
Ājīvika was founded by
Makkhali Gosala, it was a
Śramaṇa movement and a major rival of
early Buddhism and
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
.
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.
[Basham, A.L. (1951). History and Doctrines of the Ājīvikas (2nd ed.). Chapter 1. Delhi, India: Moltilal Banarsidass (Reprint: 2002). . originally published by Luzac & Company Ltd., London, 1951.] 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.
[James Lochtefeld, "Ajivika", The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Vol. 1: A–M, Rosen Publishing. , p. 22] Ājīvika considered the
karma
Karma (, from , ; ) is an ancient Indian concept that refers to an action, work, or deed, and its effect or consequences. In Indian religions, the term more specifically refers to a principle of cause and effect, often descriptively called ...
doctrine as a fallacy.
[Ajivikas](_blank)
World Religions Project, University of Cumbria, United Kingdom Ājīvikas were atheists and rejected the authority of the
Vedas
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
, but they believed that in every living being is an ''
ātman'' – a central premise of Hinduism and Jainism.
Ajñana
Ajñana
''Ajñāna'' (, (Vedic) IPA: /ɐd͡ʑ.ɲɑː.nɐ/; (Classical) IPA: /ɐd͡ʑˈɲɑː.n̪ɐ/) was one of the Āstika and nāstika, ''nāstika'' or "heterodox" schools of Hindu philosophy, ancient Indian philosophy, and the ancient school of rad ...
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; 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), the 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.
Buddhist philosophies
Buddhist philosophy begins with the thought of
Gautama Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a śramaṇa, wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist lege ...
(fl. between sixth and fourth centuries BCE) and is preserved in the
early Buddhist texts. It generally refers to the philosophical investigations that developed among various
Buddhist schools in India and later spread throughout Asia through the
Silk Road
The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...
. Buddhist thought is trans-regional and trans-cultural. It is the dominant philosophical tradition in
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
and Southeast Asian countries like
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
and
Burma
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
.
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
's main concern is soteriological, defined as freedom from
dukkha (unease). Because
ignorance of the true nature of things is considered one of the roots of suffering, Buddhist thinkers concerned themselves with philosophical questions related to epistemology and the use of reason.
[Siderits, Mark. Buddhism as philosophy, 2007, p. 6] Key Buddhist concepts include the
Four Noble Truths
In Buddhism, the Four Noble Truths (; ; "The Four Arya (Buddhism), arya satya") are "the truths of the noble one (the Buddha)," a statement of how things really are (Three marks of existence, the three marks of existence) when they are seen co ...
,
Anatta (not-self) a critique of a fixed
personal identity
Personal identity is the unique numerical identity of a person over time. Discussions regarding personal identity typically aim to determine the necessary and sufficient conditions under which a person at one time and a person at another time ...
, the transience of all things (
Anicca), and a certain
skepticism about metaphysical questions. Buddhist thinkers in India and subsequently in
East Asia
East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of Economy of China, China, Economy of Ja ...
have covered topics as varied as
phenomenology
Phenomenology may refer to:
Art
* Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties
Philosophy
* Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...
,
ethics
Ethics is the philosophy, philosophical study of Morality, moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates Normativity, normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches inclu ...
,
ontology
Ontology is the philosophical study of existence, being. It is traditionally understood as the subdiscipline of metaphysics focused on the most general features of reality. As one of the most fundamental concepts, being encompasses all of realit ...
,
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
,
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...
, and
philosophy of time.
Later Buddhist philosophical traditions developed complex phenomenological psychologies termed '
Abhidharma'.
Mahayana
Mahāyāna ( ; , , ; ) is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, Buddhist texts#Mahāyāna texts, texts, Buddhist philosophy, philosophies, and practices developed in ancient India ( onwards). It is considered one of the three main ex ...
philosophers such as
Nagarjuna
Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...
and
Vasubandhu developed the theories of
Shunyata (emptiness of all phenomena) and Vijnapti-matra (appearance only), a form of phenomenology or
transcendental idealism
Transcendental idealism is a philosophical system founded by German philosopher Immanuel Kant in the 18th century. Kant's epistemological program is found throughout his '' Critique of Pure Reason'' (1781). By ''transcendental'' (a term that des ...
. The
Dignāga (c. 480–540) school of
Pramāṇa promoted a complex form of
epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that examines the nature, origin, and limits of knowledge. Also called "the theory of knowledge", it explores different types of knowledge, such as propositional knowledge about facts, practical knowle ...
and
Buddhist logic. This tradition contributed to what has been called an "epistemological turn" in Indian philosophy. Through the work of
Dharmakirti, this tradition of Buddhist logic has become the major epistemological system used in
Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and debate.
After the disappearance of Buddhism from India, these philosophical traditions continued to develop in the
Tibetan Buddhist,
East Asian Buddhist, and
Theravada Buddhist traditions. In Tibet, the Indian tradition continued to be developed under the work of thinkers like
Sakya Pandita,
Tsongkhapa, and
Ju Mipham. In
East Asian Buddhism, new developments were led by
East Asian Yogacara thinkers such as
Paramartha,
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...
, and
Wŏnhyo and East Asian Madhyamaka thinkers like
Jizang. New sinitic schools also arose, like
Tiantai, founded by
Zhiyi,
Huayan, defended by figures like
Fazang, and
Zen
Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
, which included philosophers like
Guifeng Zongmi.
Buddhist modernism

The modern period saw the rise of
Buddhist modernism and
Humanistic Buddhism under Western influences and the development of
Western Buddhism with influences from modern psychology and Western philosophy. Important exponents of Buddhist modernism include
Anagarika Dharmapala (1864–1933) and the American convert
Henry Steel Olcott, the Chinese modernists
Taixu (1890–1947) and
Yin Shun (1906–2005), Zen scholar
D.T. Suzuki, and the Tibetan
Gendün Chöphel (1903–1951). Buddhist modernism refers to "forms of Buddhism that have emerged out of engagement with the dominant cultural and intellectual forces of modernity." Forces which influenced modernists like
Dhammapala and Yin Shun included Enlightenment values and Western science. A
Neo-Buddhist movement was founded by the influential Indian
Dalit leader
B. R. Ambedkar in the 1950s who emphasized social and political reform.
Buddhist modernism includes various movements like
Humanistic Buddhism,
Secular Buddhism, the
Vipassana movement, and
Engaged Buddhism. Chinese
humanistic Buddhism or "Buddhism for Human Life" (Chinese: 人生佛教; pinyin: rénshēng fójiào) which was to be free of supernatural beliefs has also been an influential form of modern Buddhism in Asia.
[Bingenheimer, Marcus (2007). "Some Remarks on the Usage of Renjian Fojiao 人間佛教 and the Contribution of Venerable Yinshun to Chinese Buddhist Modernism". In Hsu, Mutsu; Chen, Jinhua; Meeks, Lori]
''Development and Practice of Humanitarian Buddhism: Interdisciplinary Perspectives''
(PDF). Hua-lien (Taiwan): Tzuchi University Press. pp. 141–161. .
Sikh philosophy
Sikhism
Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
is an Indian religion developed by
Guru Nanak (1469–1539) in the
Punjab region
Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
during the
Mughal Era. Their main sacred text is the ''
Guru Granth Sahib.'' The fundamental beliefs include constant spiritual meditation of
God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
's name, being guided by the Guru instead of yielding to capriciousness, living a householder's life instead of monasticism, truthful action to
dharma
Dharma (; , ) is a key concept in various Indian religions. The term ''dharma'' does not have a single, clear Untranslatability, translation and conveys a multifaceted idea. Etymologically, it comes from the Sanskrit ''dhr-'', meaning ''to hold ...
(righteousness, moral duty), equality of all human beings, and believing in God's grace. Key concepts include ''
Simran'', ''
Seva'', the
Three Pillars of Sikhism, and the
Five Thieves.
Modern Indian philosophy

In response to
colonialism
Colonialism is the control of another territory, natural resources and people by a foreign group. Colonizers control the political and tribal power of the colonised territory. While frequently an Imperialism, imperialist project, colonialism c ...
and their contact with
Western philosophy
Western philosophy refers to the Philosophy, philosophical thought, traditions and works of the Western world. Historically, the term refers to the philosophical thinking of Western culture, beginning with the ancient Greek philosophy of the Pre ...
, 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
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
." exemplified by the philosophy of
Advaita Vedanta. They were also influenced by Western ideas. The first of these movements was that of the
Brahmo Samaj of
Ram Mohan Roy (1772–1833).
Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) was very influential in developing the
Hindu reform movements and in bringing the worldview to the West. Through the work of Indians like Vivekananda as well as westerners such as the proponents of the
Theosophical society, modern Hindu thought also influenced western culture.
The political thought of
Hindu nationalism
Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...
is also another important current in modern Indian thought. The work of
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
,
Deendayal Upadhyaya,
Rabindranath Tagore
Rabindranath Thakur (; anglicised as Rabindranath Tagore ; 7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengalis, Bengali polymath who worked as a poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer, and painter of the Bengal Renai ...
,
Aurobindo,
Krishna Chandra Bhattacharya, and
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan has had a large impact on modern Indian philosophy.
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
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
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...
).
East Asian philosophies
Chinese
East Asian philosophical thought began in
Ancient China
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Y ...
, and
Chinese philosophy
Chinese philosophy (Simplified Chinese characters, simplified Chinese: 中国哲学; Traditional Chinese characters, traditional Chinese: 中國哲學) refers to the philosophical traditions that originated and developed within the historical ...
begins during the
Western Zhou
The Western Zhou ( zh, c=西周, p=Xīzhōu; 771 BC) was a period of Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Zhou dynasty. It began when King Wu of Zhou overthrew the Shang dynasty at the Battle of Muye and ended in 77 ...
dynasty and the following periods after its fall when the "
Hundred Schools of Thought" flourished (6th century to 221 BCE).
This period was characterized by significant intellectual and cultural developments and saw the rise of the major Chinese philosophical schools (
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
,
Legalism, and
Daoism) as well as numerous less influential schools (
Mohism,
School of Names,
School of Yin Yang). These philosophical traditions developed metaphysical, political, and ethical theories which, along with
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, first=t, poj=Hàn-thoân Hu̍t-kàu, j=Hon3 Cyun4 Fat6 Gaau3, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhist canonJiang Wu, "The Chin ...
, had a direct influence on the rest of
the East Asian cultural sphere. Buddhism began arriving in China during the
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
(206 BCE–220 CE), through a
gradual Silk road transmission and gradually developed distinct Chinese forms (such as Chan/
Zen
Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
).
Confucianism
Confucianism
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China, and is variously described as a tradition, philosophy, Religious Confucianism, religion, theory of government, or way of li ...
(孔教, ''Kǒngjiào'' — "Confucius' doctrine"), also known as "Ruism" (''Rújiào'' — "doctrine of the scholars"), is a Chinese philosophical system with ritual, moral, and religious applications. The tradition developed around the teachings of
Confucius
Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...
(''Kǒng Fūzǐ'', 孔夫子, "Master Kong", 551–479 BCE) who saw himself as transmitting the values and theology of the ancestors before him. Other influential classical Confucian philosophers include
Mencius
Mencius (孟子, ''Mèngzǐ'', ; ) was a Chinese Confucian philosopher, often described as the Second Sage () to reflect his traditional esteem relative to Confucius himself. He was part of Confucius's fourth generation of disciples, inheriting ...
and
Xun Kuang who famously disagreed on the innate moral nature of humans.
Confucianism focuses on humanistic values like familial and social harmony,
filial piety (孝, ''xiào''), ''
Rén'' (仁, "benevolence" or "humaneness") and ''
Lǐ'' (禮/礼) which is a system of ritual norms that determines how a person should act to be in harmony with the law of Heaven. Confucianism traditionally holds that these values are based on the transcendent principle known as
Heaven
Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...
(''Tiān'' 天), and also includes the belief in spirits or gods (''
shén'').
Confucianism was a major ideology of the imperial state during the
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...
(206 BCE–220 CE) and was revived as
Neo-Confucianism during the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
(618–907). During later Chinese dynasties like
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
(960–1297) and the
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
(1368–1644) as well as in the Korean
Joseon dynasty
Joseon ( ; ; also romanized as ''Chosun''), officially Great Joseon (), was a dynastic kingdom of Korea that existed for 505 years. It was founded by Taejo of Joseon in July 1392 and replaced by the Korean Empire in October 1897. The kingdom w ...
(1392–1897) a resurgent
Neo-Confucianism led by thinkers such as
Zhu Xi (1130–1200) and
Wang Yangming (1472–1529) became the dominant school of thought and was promoted by the imperial state. Beginning in the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
,
Confucian classics were the basis of the
imperial exams and became the core philosophy of the
scholar-official class. Confucianism suffered setbacks during the 20th century, but is recently undergoing a revival, which is termed
New Confucianism
New Confucianism () is an intellectual movement of Confucianism that began in the early 20th century in Republic of China (1912–1949), Republican China, and further developed in post-Mao era People's Republic of China, contemporary China. I ...
.
Traditionally, East Asian cultures and countries in the
cultural sphere are strongly influenced by Confucianism, including
Mainland China
"Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
,
Hong Kong
Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
,
Macau
Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...
,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
,
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
, and
Vietnam
Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
as well as various overseas territories settled predominantly by
Overseas Chinese, such as
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
.
Legalism
Legalism (法家,
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...
: ''Fǎjiā;'' school of "methods" or "standards") was a philosophical tradition which focused on laws, realpolitik, and bureaucratic management. Largely ignoring
morality
Morality () is the categorization of intentions, Decision-making, decisions and Social actions, actions into those that are ''proper'', or ''right'', and those that are ''improper'', or ''wrong''. Morality can be a body of standards or principle ...
or idealized views of how society should be, they focused on the pragmatic
government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
through the power of the
autocrat and
state. Their goal was to achieve increased order, security, and stability. They were initially influenced by Mohist ideas. A key figure of this school was administrator and political philosopher
Shen Buhai (c. 400–337 BCE). Another central figure,
Shang Yang (390–338 BCE), was a leading statesman and reformer who transformed the
Qin state into the dominant power that conquered the rest of China in 221 BCE. Shen's successor
Han Fei (c. 280–233 BCE) synthesized the thought of the other Legalists in his
eponym
An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
ous text, the ''
Han Feizi,'' one of the most influential Legalist texts which was used by successive Chinese statesmen and rulers as a guide for statesmanship and bureaucratic organization of the imperial state.
Mohism
Mohism (墨家,''Mòjiā''; "School of Mo"), was founded by
Mozi (c. 470–391 BCE) and his students. It was a major school of thought and rival of Confucianism and Taoism during the
Spring and Autumn and
Warring States periods (c. 770–221 BCE). The main text of the school is the
''Mozi'' (book). The administrative thought of Mohism was later absorbed by Legalism, their ethics absorbed into Confucianism and its books were also merged into the
Taoist canon, as Mohism all but disappeared as an independent school after the
Qin dynasty
The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...
era.
Mohism is best known for the idea of "impartial care" (
Chinese: 兼愛;
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...
: ''jiān ài''; literally: "inclusive love/care"). According to Master Mo, persons should care equally for all other individuals, regardless of their actual relationship to them. Mo also advocated impartial
meritocracy in government which should be based on talent, not blood relations. Mozi was against Confucian ritualism, instead emphasizing
pragmatic survival through farming,
fortification
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...
, and
statecraft. Tradition is inconsistent, and human beings need an extra-traditional guide to identify which traditions are acceptable. The moral guide must then promote and encourage social behaviors that maximize the general benefit. As motivation for his theory, Mozi brought in the ''Will of Heaven'', but rather than being religious his philosophy parallels
utilitarianism
In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals. In other words, utilitarian ideas encourage actions that lead to the ...
.
Mohism was also associated with and influenced by a separate philosophical school known as the
School of Names (''Míngjiā''; also known as 'Logicians'), that focused on the
philosophy of language
Philosophy of language refers to the philosophical study of the nature of language. It investigates the relationship between language, language users, and the world. Investigations may include inquiry into the nature of Meaning (philosophy), me ...
,
definition
A definition is a statement of the meaning of a term (a word, phrase, or other set of symbols). Definitions can be classified into two large categories: intensional definitions (which try to give the sense of a term), and extensional definitio ...
, and
logic
Logic is the study of correct reasoning. It includes both formal and informal logic. Formal logic is the study of deductively valid inferences or logical truths. It examines how conclusions follow from premises based on the structure o ...
.
Taoism

Taoism (or Daoism) is a term for various philosophies and religious systems that emphasize harmony with the ''
Tao'' (
Chinese: 道;
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...
: ''Dào''; literally: "the Way") which is seen as the principle which is the source, pattern, and substance of everything that exists. Taoism tends to emphasize virtues such as ''
wu wei'' (effortless action), ''
ziran'' (naturalness),
''pu'' (simplicity), and spontaneity while placing less emphasis on norms and ritual (as opposed to Confucianism). The
attainment of immortality through external alchemy (
waidan) and internal alchemy (
neidan) was an important goal for many Taoists historically.
Early forms of Taoism developed in the 4th century BCE, influenced by the cosmological theories of the
School of Naturalists and the ''
I Ching.'' The School of Naturalists or Yin-yang was another philosophical school that synthesized the concepts of
yin-yang
Originating in Chinese philosophy, yin and yang (, ), also yinyang or yin-yang, is the concept of opposite cosmic principles or forces that interact, interconnect, and perpetuate each other. Yin and yang can be thought of as complementary an ...
and the
Five Elements;
Zou Yan is considered the founder.
The ''
Dao De Jing'' (''Tao-Te-Ching,'' c. 4th century BCE), traditionally attributed to
Laozi
Laozi (), also romanized as Lao Tzu #Name, among other ways, was a semi-legendary Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosopher and author of the ''Tao Te Ching'' (''Laozi''), one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the ''Zhuangzi (book) ...
, and the ''
Nan Hua Jing'' (''Zhuang Zi'') are considered the key texts of the tradition. The first organized form of Taoism, the
Tianshi (Celestial Masters') school arose in the 2nd century CE.
Xuanxue
Xuanxue (), sometimes called Neo-Daoism (Neo-Taoism), is a metaphysical Post-classical history, post-classical Chinese philosophy from the Six Dynasties (222-589), bringing together Taoist and Confucianism, Confucian beliefs through revision and di ...
("deep learning", also "Neo-Taoism") was a major philosophical movement influenced by Confucian scholarship, which focused on the interpretation of the ''
Yijing,'' ''
Daodejing,'' and ''
Zhuangzi'' and which flourished during the third to sixth centuries CE. The most important philosophers of this movement were
He Yan
He Yan ( 195 – 9 February 249), courtesy name Pingshu, was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was a grandson of He Jin, a general and regent of the Eastern Han dynasty. His ...
,
Wang Bi, the
Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove,
Ge Hong, and
Guo Xiang. Thinkers like He Yan and Wang Bi focused on the deep nature of Tao, which they saw as being best exemplified by the term "Wu" (nothingness, non-being, negativity).
Other schools rose to prominence throughout Chinese history, such as the
Shangqing school during the
Tang dynasty
The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
(618–907), the
Lingbao school during the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
(960–1279) and the
Quanzhen School which develop during the 13th–14th centuries and during the
Yuan dynasty
The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
. The later Taoist traditions were also influenced by
Chinese Buddhism
Chinese Buddhism or Han Buddhism ( zh, s=汉传佛教, t=漢傳佛教, first=t, poj=Hàn-thoân Hu̍t-kàu, j=Hon3 Cyun4 Fat6 Gaau3, p=Hànchuán Fójiào) is a Chinese form of Mahayana Buddhism. The Chinese Buddhist canonJiang Wu, "The Chin ...
.
Modern East Asian philosophy
Chinese
Modern Chinese thought is generally seen as being rooted in Classical Confucianism (''Jingxue''), Neo-Confucianism (''Lixue''), Buddhism, Daoism, and ''Xixue'' ("
Western Learning" which arose during the late
Ming dynasty
The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
).
The
Opium war of 1839–42 saw the beginning of Western and Japanese invasions and exploitation of China which was humiliating to Chinese thinkers. The late 19th and early 20th century saw Chinese thinkers such as
Zhang Zhidong looking to Western practical knowledge as a way to preserve traditional Chinese culture, a doctrine that he defined as "Chinese Learning as Substance and Western Learning as Function" (''Zhongti Xiyong'').
The traditionalists meanwhile sought to revive and fortify traditional Chinese philosophical schools. Chinese Buddhist thought was promoted by thinkers like Yang Rensan and Ou-Yang Jingwu while another influential movement is
New Confucianism
New Confucianism () is an intellectual movement of Confucianism that began in the early 20th century in Republic of China (1912–1949), Republican China, and further developed in post-Mao era People's Republic of China, contemporary China. I ...
(Chinese: 新儒家;
pinyin
Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...
: ''xīn rú jiā''). New Confucianism is a traditionalist revival of Confucian thought in China beginning in the 20th-century
Republican China which is also associated with
New Conservatism. Key New Confucians of the first generation are
Xiong Shili and
Fung Youlan. The second generation (1950–1979) include individuals like
Tang Junyi,
Mou Zongsan, and
Xu Fuguan, all three students of Xiong Shili. Together with
Zhang Junmai, the second generation published the
New Confucian Manifesto in 1958.
Japanese

Modern Japanese thought is strongly influenced by Western science and philosophy. Japan's rapid modernization was partly aided by the early study of western science (known as
Rangaku) during the
Edo period
The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
(1603–1868). Another intellectual movement during the Edo period was
Kokugaku (national study), which sought to focus on the study of ancient Japanese thought, classic texts, and culture over and against foreign Chinese and Buddhist cultures. A key figure of this movement is
Motoori Norinaga (1730–1801), who argued that the essence of classic Japanese literature and culture was a sense called
mono no aware ("sorrow at evanescence").
In the
Meiji period
The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
(1868–1912), the modernist
Meirokusha (Meiji 6, formed in 1874) intellectual society promoted
European enlightenment thought. Meirokusha philosophers like
Mori Arinori,
Nishi Amane, and
Fukuzawa Yukichi sought ways to combine Western ideas with
Japanese culture
Japanese culture has changed greatly over the millennia, from the country's prehistoric Jōmon period, to its contemporary modern culture, which absorbs influences from Asia and other regions of the world.
Since the Jomon period, ancestral ...
and values. The
Shōwa period (1926–1989) saw the rise of
State Shinto
was Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for Kannushi, priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that ...
and
Japanese nationalism.
Japanese Buddhist philosophy was influenced by the work of the
Kyoto School which drew from western philosophers (especially German philosophy) and Buddhist thought and included
Kitaro Nishida,
Keiji Nishitani,
Hajime Tanabe, and
Masao Abe. The most important trend in Japanese Buddhist thought after the formation of the Kyoto school is
Critical Buddhism, which argues against several Mahayana concepts such as
Buddha-nature and
original enlightenment.
North Korean
Juche, usually translated as "self-reliance", is the official political
ideology
An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...
of
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...
, described by the regime as
Kim Il-Sung's "original, brilliant and revolutionary contribution to national and international thought".
[ ] The idea states that an individual is "the master of his destiny"
and that the North Korean masses are to act as the "masters of the revolution and construction".
Syntheses of Eastern and Western philosophy
Modern
In the modern era, there have been many attempts to integrate Western and Eastern philosophical traditions.
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer ( ; ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the Phenomenon, phenomenal world as ...
developed a philosophy that was essentially a synthesis of
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
with Western thought. He anticipated that the ''
Upanishads'' (primary
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
scriptures) would have a much greater influence in the West than they have had. However, Schopenhauer was working with heavily flawed early translations (and sometimes second-degree translations), and many feel that he may not necessarily have accurately grasped the Eastern philosophies which interested him.
Recent attempts to incorporate Western philosophy into Eastern thought include the
Kyoto School of philosophers, who combined the
phenomenology
Phenomenology may refer to:
Art
* Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties
Philosophy
* Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...
of
Husserl with the insights of
Zen Buddhism
Zen (; from Chinese: '' Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka ph ...
.
Watsuji Tetsurô, a 20th-century
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese philosopher attempted to combine the works of
Søren Kierkegaard
Søren Aabye Kierkegaard ( , ; ; 5 May 1813 – 11 November 1855) was a Danes, Danish theologian, philosopher, poet, social critic, and religious author who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. He wrote critical tex ...
, Nietzsche, and Heidegger with Eastern philosophies. Some have claimed that there is also a definite eastern element within
Heidegger's philosophy. For the most part, this is not made explicit within Heidegger's philosophy, apart from in the dialogue between a Japanese and inquirer. Heidegger did spend time attempting to translate the Tao Te Ching into German, working with his Chinese student Paul Hsaio. It has also been claimed that much of Heidegger's later philosophy, particularly the sacredness of Being, bears a distinct similarity to Taoist ideas. There are clear parallels between Heidegger and the work of Kyoto School, and ultimately, it may be read that Heidegger's philosophy is an attempt to 'turn eastwards' in response to the crisis in Western civilization. However, this is only an interpretation.
The 20th-century
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
guru
Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...
Sri Aurobindo was influenced by
German Idealism
German idealism is a philosophical movement that emerged in Germany in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It developed out of the work of Immanuel Kant in the 1780s and 1790s, and was closely linked both with Romanticism and the revolutionary ...
and his
integral yoga is regarded as a synthesis of Eastern and Western thought. The German
phenomenologist Jean Gebser's writings on the history of
consciousness
Consciousness, at its simplest, is awareness of a state or object, either internal to oneself or in one's external environment. However, its nature has led to millennia of analyses, explanations, and debate among philosophers, scientists, an ...
referred to a new planetary consciousness that would bridge this gap. Followers of these two authors are often grouped together under the term Integral thought.
Following the
Xinhai Revolution
The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...
in 1911 and the end of the
Qing dynasty
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...
, the
May Fourth Movement sought to completely abolish the old imperial institutions and practices of China (such as the old civil service system). There were two major philosophical trends during this period. One was anti-traditional and promoted Western learning and ideas. A key figure of this anti-traditional current was
Yan Fu (1853–1921) who translated various Western philosophical works including Smith's The
Wealth of Nations
''An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations'', usually referred to by its shortened title ''The Wealth of Nations'', is a book by the Scottish people, Scottish economist and moral philosophy, moral philosopher Adam Smith; ...
and Mill's
On Liberty. There were also attempts to incorporate Western ideas of
democracy
Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...
, and
republicanism
Republicanism is a political ideology that encompasses a range of ideas from civic virtue, political participation, harms of corruption, positives of mixed constitution, rule of law, and others. Historically, it emphasizes the idea of self ...
into Chinese political philosophy, notably by
Sun Yat-Sen
Sun Yat-senUsually known as Sun Zhongshan () in Chinese; also known by Names of Sun Yat-sen, several other names. (; 12 November 186612 March 1925) was a Chinese physician, revolutionary, statesman, and political philosopher who founded the Republ ...
(1866–1925) at the beginning of the 20th century. Another influential modern Chinese philosopher was
Hu Shih, who was a student of
John Dewey
John Dewey (; October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and Education reform, educational reformer. He was one of the most prominent American scholars in the first half of the twentieth century.
The overridi ...
at Columbia University and who promoted a form of pragmatism.
The influence of
Marxism
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
on modern Chinese political thought is vast, especially through the work of
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
, the most famous thinker of
Chinese Marxist Philosophy. Maoism is a
Chinese Marxist philosophy based on the teachings of the 20th-century
Chinese Communist Party
The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
revolutionary leader
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
. It is based partially on earlier theories by Marx and Lenin, but rejects the urban
proletariat and
Leninist emphasis on heavy industrialization in favor of a revolution supported by the peasantry, and a decentralized agrarian economy based on many collectively worked farms. The current government of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
continues to espouse a pragmatic form of
socialism
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
as
its official party ideology which it calls
Socialism with Chinese characteristics. When the Chinese Communist Party
took over the reign, previous schools of thought such as Taoism and Confucianism (except
Legalism) were denounced as backward, and later purged during the violence of the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...
which saw many Taoist and Buddhist temples and institutions destroyed.
Swiss psychologist
Carl Jung was deeply influenced by the
I Ching (Book of Changes), an ancient Chinese text that dates back to the Bronze Age
Shang dynasty
The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty that ruled in the Yellow River valley during the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and followed by the Western Zhou d ...
(c. 1700–1050 BCE). It uses a system of Yin and Yang, which it places into hexagrams for the purposes of divination. Carl Jung's idea of
synchronicity moves towards an Oriental view of
causality, as he states in the foreword to Richard Wilhelm's translation of the
I Ching. He explains that this Chinese view of the world is based not on science as the West knows it, but on chance.
Criticism
According to the British philosopher Victoria S. Harrison, the category of "Eastern philosophy", and similarly "Asian philosophy" and "Oriental philosophy" is a product of 19th-century Western scholarship and did not exist in East Asia or India. This is because in Asia there is no single unified philosophical tradition with a single root, but various autonomous traditions that have come into contact with each other over time.
Some
Eurocentric thinkers claim that philosophy as such is only characteristic of Western cultures. The German philosopher
Martin Heidegger
Martin Heidegger (; 26 September 1889 – 26 May 1976) was a German philosopher known for contributions to Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology, hermeneutics, and existentialism. His work covers a range of topics including metaphysics, art ...
is reported to have said that only Greek and German languages are suitable for philosophizing.
[English translation]
by William J. Richardson i
1st edition
It is still commonplace in Western universities to teach only Western philosophy and to ignore Asian philosophy altogether, or consider only newer Western-influenced Asian thought proper "philosophy". Carine Defoort, herself a specialist in Chinese thought, has offered support for such a "family" view of philosophy, while
Rein Raud has presented an argument against it and offered a more flexible
definition of philosophy that would include both Western and Asian thought on equal terms. In response, Ouyang Min argues that philosophy proper is a Western cultural practice and essentially different from ''zhexue'', which is what the Chinese have, even though ''zhexue'' (originally ''tetsugaku'') is actually a neologism coined in 1873 by
Nishi Amane for describing Western philosophy as opposed to traditional Asian thought.
[Havens, Thomas R.H. (1970).''Nishi Amane and Modern Japanese Thought'' Princeton: Princeton University Press, p. 50.]
See also
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Eastern ethics in business
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Eastern religions
Notes
References
Sources
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External links
Jim Fieser: Classical Eastern PhilosophyArticles and commentaries on a wide range of topics related to practical Eastern Philosophyat atmajyoti.org
Eastern Philosophy on Kheper website
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Culture of Asia
History of Asia
Articles containing video clips
Eastern culture
Philosophy by region