Getting started in research
Every now and then, someone asks me where to start learning about Indian philosophy. It’s a good question, since what we call “Indian philosophy” includes a vast number of texts written over thousands of years in multiple languages. Should you start at the beginning? Should you try to get an overview? Should you try to focus on one thinker or tradition?
In this post, I’ll share some resources for starting your journey. Keep in mind that this is just about beginnings (my postscript reflects more on starting points). And, too, I’m focusing on materials available in English. If you read other languages, Hindi, Japanese, German, French, Tamil, etc., you’ll have more resources available to you. Below, what could you read if you want to….
…get a sense of the vast scope of Indian philosophy?
…start reading some Indian philosophy in translation?
…begin to understand some major controversies?
..focus on textual histories and genres?
…approximate taking an introductory course?
Appendix: other resources suggested to me, in alphabetical order
…get a sense of the vast scope of Indian philosophy?
- Eric Frauwallner, History of Indian Philosophy.(2 Vols) Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers, 1973. Wide-ranging scholarly discussion of Indian philosophy starting with the Vedas and epics.
- Peter Adamson and Jonardon Ganeri, Classical Indian Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2020. Extensive coverage, accessibly written in brief episodic form, of a range of Indian philosophies.
…start reading some Indian philosophy in translation?
- Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles Moore. A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967. While archaic in language and often fills in the translators’ views undifferentiated from the translation, it is still the most comprehensive single sourcebook. However, its translations should not be used for research purposes.
- Note that there are some accessibly translated texts I’d recommend for beginners, such as Matthew Dasti and Stephen Phillips’s The Nyāya-sūtras: Selections with Early Commentaries, Hackett Publishing, 2017 but there’s no way to survey all these starting points in a single brief blog post. I suggest looking at translations found in the syllabi below or in the “find more” section.
…begin to understand some major controversies?
- J.N. Mohanty. Classical Indian Philosophy: An Introductory Text. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, 2000. A concise classic from one of the most influential 20th century Indian philosophers.
- Roy Perrett. Introduction to Indian Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,2016. Topically arranged, interspersed with connections to contemporary analytic philosophy.
…focus on textual histories and genres?
- Jan Gonda’s scholarly series A History of Indian Literature has multiple volumes relevant to philosophy, including B.K. Matilal’s Nyāya-vaiśeṣika, Jean-Marie Verpoorten’s Mīmāṃsā, and Michel Hulin’s Sāṃkhya.
- Maurice Winternitz’s three-volume A History of Indian Literature focuses on philosophy in Volume 3, Part 2, but the other volumes include relevant material on Buddhism (Volume 2) and the Vedas, Upaniṣads (Volume 1).
…approximate taking an introductory course?
- take a look at some of the online syllabi available at the Indian Philosophy Blog
- find a syllabus at the American Philosophical Association
- check out Andrew Ollett’s introductory syllabus or Dan Arnold’s syllabus list
- dig into a particular topic listed in Jonardon Ganeri’s blog entry at the APA Blog
…find more materials to read?
- Look through the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy or the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy for articles on topics and specific thinkers and to find bibliographies on them.
- Search the Pandit Project for scholarship on thinkers and texts.
- If you have institutional access, try the Oxford Bibliographies Online for further material, and look under “Hinduism” and “Buddhism” as well as “philosophy.”
Other resources suggested to me, in alphabetical order
- Christopher Bartley, An Introduction to Indian Philosophy. London: Bloomsbury, 2011. The publisher’s marketing copy is overwrought, as this is not “definitive,” excluding Jainism, for instance, but it is an accessible chronological introduction.
- Purushottama Billimoria, History of Indian Philosophy. London: Routledge, 2017. An edited collection of essays from current experts in the field, which is more thematically oriented.
- Jonardon Ganeri, The Oxford Handbook of Indian Philosophy, Oxford: Oxford University Press. This chronologically-organized volume stands out because it goes beyond navya-Nyāya, a common stopping point, to include “early modernity” (1460-1757) and “the eve of independence,” (1857-1947).
- M. Hiriyanna, Outlines of Indian Philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1994. Available This was actually one of the first books I read in graduate school to learn about Indian philosophy, and remains a classic overview.
Please leave further suggestions in the comments, especially materials which you have found useful and why.
Postscript: on starting out
If you think I’ve missed something, I probably have. Imagine telling someone the *one* thing they should read to start learning about “Western” philosophy, or writing a top five “must read” list, or choosing a single introduction to philosophy textbook.
Still, I hope the entry is a place to point people when I’m asked “where should I start?” The answer depends on what you are interested in, and your own background. Hopefully this entry will help you decide.
This post is certainly not a summary of the best or only starting-points in learning about Indian philosophy. Frankly, I think that would be a very difficult, if not impossible, post to write. The reason is because I don’t know anything about you, my reader. And while there are clear cases of poor resources (I would not suggest reading Wikipedia as an authoritative introduction, even though it may sometimes be right), there is a range of useful material whose specific utility depends on a reader’s background and goals.
One way to learn about a vast set of materials is to start with a high-level overview. Such an overview may generalize in order to be succinct, in which case criticisms tend to be that it’s “oversimplified.” But beginners must start somewhere, and the picture can be progressively refined as they move on.
Another way to learn is to start with a narrow part of the material. Pick a person or a text or a problem that grabs you. Such a starting point may exclude a lot of the context and background that more advanced readers find crucial to “really appreciate” the narrow point. But again, beginners must start somewhere, and the wider picture can be progressively filled in as one continues.
My opinion is that neither approach is better than the other, and that where someone starts is a matter of their goals and background. If you have an advanced degree and a lot of comfort with difficult, scholarly writing, you might dive into a two-volume “overview.” But if you are just starting out, and find those styles challenging, you don’t need to start there! You can listen to a podcast or pick up some short introductory summaries.
In conclusion, the sources above are just some of the many resources out there. The syllabi and further resources can help you find other ones, if none of these work for you. But everyone, including myself, started somewhere.