春雨直播app

The book "インド哲学入門" (Introduction to Indian Philosophy) is the Japanese translation of Roy W. Perrett's "An Introduction to Indian Philosophy" (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy) published by Cambridge University Press in 2016. Unlike typical Indian philosophy textbooks that chronologically introduce Indian thought, this book is a groundbreaking overview organized by topics. There are very few comprehensive guides to Indian philosophy available in Japanese, and those that exist are mostly chronological. Therefore, having an accessible, topic-based introductory book in Japanese is a significant advantage for researchers and students in related fields.
 
I have been teaching courses titled "Indian Philosophy" and "Indian Thought" at universities for over ten years. I felt that solely discussing the uniqueness of Indian philosophy within its limited context was insufficient and believed it necessary to introduce perspectives that relativize Indian philosophy. It was during this period that I encountered Perrett's newly published work. Interested in the comparison between Western and Indian philosophy, I found the translation process educational. Revisiting Indian philosophy from a Western philosophical perspective allowed me to identify the challenges and limitations within Indian philosophy, thereby deepening my understanding.
 
The book begins with a provocative (though a familiar question among Indologists) introduction discussing whether "philosophy" exists in India. It then covers seven topics: "value," "knowledge," "reasoning," "word," "world," "self," and "ultimates." These topics have been variously debated by Indian thinkers and share philosophical concerns and discussions present in Western traditions. The original author wrote this book hoping that students and researchers of Western philosophy would treat Indian philosophy as "philosophy."
 
This book, written by an author who has long discussed Indian philosophical issues from a comparative thought perspective, and who thoroughly understands Western philosophical traditions, is an excellent resource not only for students specializing in Western philosophy or general readers with some philosophical background but also for students intending to major in Indian philosophy. The original book includes a glossary at the end, which has been replaced in this translation with a "Basic Terminology of Classical Indian Philosophical Schools" at the beginning, providing essential knowledge on Indian philosophical literature. Additionally, a "Guide to Readable Japanese Literature" is appended for Japanese readers. I hope that this book will spark interest in Indian philosophy among as many people as possible.
 

(Written by KATO Takahiro, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology / 2024)

Table of Contents

Related Info

Original Book
Roy.W.Perrett, An Introduction to Indian Philosophy (Cambridge Introductions to Philosophy), Cambridge University Press, 2016

 
Original Book Reviews:
By Joy Laine  (The Journal of Asian Studies 77(2) pp. 563-565  11 May 2018)

 
By Swami Narasimhananda  (READING RELIGION  11 May 2017)

 
By Matthew R. Dasti  (The Indian Philosophy Blog  6 December 2016)

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