Indian Thought and Western Theism
The encounter between the West and India in the modern period has also been an encounter between Western modernity and the traditions of classical Indian thought. This book is the study of one aspect of this encounter, that between Western scholasticism and one classical Indian tradition of religious thought and practice: the Vednta.
In the modern period there have been many attempts to relate Western theistic traditions to classical Indian accounts of ultimate reality and the world. Parallels have usually been drawn with modern forms of Western philosophy or modern trends in theism. Modern Indological studies have continued to make substantial use of Western terms and concepts to describe and analyse Indian thought. A much-neglected area of study has been the relationship between Western scholastic theology and classical Indian thought. This book challenges existing parallels with modern philosophy of religion and forms of theism. It argues instead that there is an affinity between scholasticism and classical Indian traditions. It considers the thought of Rmnuja (traditional dates 10171137 ce), who developed an influential theist and realist form of Vednta, and considers how this relates to that of the most influential of Western scholastics, Thomas Aquinas (1224/51274 ce). Within what remain very different traditions we can see similar methods of enquiry, as well as common questions and concerns in their accounts of ultimate reality and of the world.
Arguing that there is indeed an affinity between the Western scholastic tradition and that of classical Indian thought, and suggesting a reversal of the tendencies of earlier interpretations, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of Asian religion, Hinduism and Indian philosophy.
Martin Ganeri is Vice Regent of Blackfriars Hall, University of Oxford, UK. His recent publications include Selfhood, Agency and Freewill in Rmnuja in E.F. Bryant (ed.), Free Will, Agency, and Selfhood in Indian Philosophy (2014), and Natural Law and Hinduism in the Journal of Comparative Law (2014).
Routledge Hindu Studies Series
Series Editor: Gavin Flood
Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies
The Routledge Hindu Studies Series, in association with the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, intends the publication of constructive Hindu theological, philosophical and ethical projects aimed at bringing Hindu traditions into dialogue with contemporary trends in scholarship and contemporary society. The series invites original, high-quality, research-level work on religion, culture and society of Hindus living in India and abroad. Proposals for annotated translations of important primary sources and studies in the history of the Hindu religious traditions will also be considered.
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A Hindu Critique of Buddhist Epistemology
Kumarila on perception
The Determination of Perception chapter of Kumarilabhattas Slokarvarttika translation and commentary
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Samkaras Advaita Vedanta
A way of teaching
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Attending Krishnas Image
Chaitanya Vaishnava Murti-seva as devotional truth
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Advaita Vedanta and Vaisnavism
The philosophy of Madhusudana Sarasvati
Sanjukta Gupta
Classical Samkhya and Yoga
An Indian metaphysics of experience
Mikel Burley
Self-Surrender (Prapatti) to God in Shrivaishnavism
Tamil cats and Sanskrit monkeys
Srilata Raman
The Chaitanya Vaishnava Vedanta of Jiva Gosvami
When knowledge meets devotion
Ravi M. Gupta
Gender and Narrative in the Mahabharata
Edited by Simon Brodbeck and Brian Black
Yoga in the Modern World
Contemporary perspectives
Edited by Mark Singleton and Jean Byrne
Consciousness in Indian Philosophy
The Advaita doctrine of awareness only
Sthaneshwar Timalsina
Desire and Motivation in Indian Philosophy
Christopher G. Framarin
Women in the Hindu Tradition
Rules, roles and exceptions
Mandakranta Bose
Religion, Narrative and Public Imagination in South Asia
Past and place in the Sanskrit Mahabharata
James Hegarty
Interpreting Devotion
The poetry and legacy of a female Bhakti saint of India
Karen Pechilis
Hindu Perspectives on Evolution
Darwin, dharma, and design
C. Mackenzie Brown
Pilgrimage in the Hindu Tradition
Salvific space
Knut A. Jacobsen
A Womans Ramayana
Candravatis Bengali epic
Mandakranta Bose and Sarika Priyadarshini Bose
Classical Vaisesika in Indian Philosophy
On knowing and what is to be known
Shashiprabha Kumar
Re-figuring the Ramayana as Theology
A history of reception in premodern India
Ajay R. Rao
Hinduism and Environmental Ethics
Law, literature and philosophy
Christopher G. Framarin
Hindu Pilgrimage
Shifting patterns of worldview of Srisailam in South India
Prabhavati C. Reddy
The Death and Afterlife of Mahatma Gandhi
Makarand R. Paranjape
Bhakti and Embodiment
Fashioning divine bodies and devotional bodies in Ka Bhakti
Barbara A. Holdrege
Textual Authority in Classical Hindu Thought
Ramanuja and the Vishnu Purana
Sucharita Adluri
Indian Thought and Western Theism
The Vednta of Rmnuja
Martin Ganeri
First published 2015
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2015 Martin Ganeri
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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ganeri, Martin, author.
Indian thought and western Theism: the Vedanta of Ramanuja / Martin Ganeri.
pages cm. (Routledge Hindu Studies Series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1.Ramanuja, 10171137.2.Vedanta.3.Theism.I.Title.