|
|
Philosophy in Colonial
India
A Study week
On
Philosophy in Colonial India
What is conveyed by naming the traditional
Darsanasastra as 'Indian Philosophy' and what is conveyed
by the term 'Modern Indian Philosophy' are the sub-texts of
a much wider, varied and complex theme, namely, the Indian
reception of the West during the colonial period. Though the
colonial period conceived politically provides a focal point,
the process of the reception of the west dates back to 16th
Century and even earlier, and covers such diverse fields as
religion, art, architecture, and more prominently, science
and technology. It is only in its colonial phase proper that
this reception is subjected to various interpretations involving
such binaries as traditional-modern, eastern-western, religious-secular,
rational-spiritual (mystical), scientific-occult, and colonial-national.
Going beyond these binaries, this seminar intends to review
and assess various reconstructions of 'Indian Philosophy'
and the emergence of 'Modern Indian Philosophy' as exemplified
in the works of Indian philosophers of the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries in the setting of the historical
conditions arising out of the two way interaction between
India and Europe.
The very term 'Indian Philosophy' has its own history. As
a generic term it refers to different philosophical views
held by the Hindus, Buddhists, Jainas and even heretics. It
illustrates the way Europeans have received Indian thought
in the form of translation, codification, and interpretation
of various texts that are usually identified as Hindu religious
texts. This reception was facilitated first by the works of
the Christian missionaries of the17th and 18th centuries and
later by the orientalists and indologists with different motives.
For missionaries like Roberto Nobili (1577-1656) the translation
and the hermeneutics of Hindu religious texts were essential
for the spread of the Christian faith among Hindus on the
basis of 'common' ideas and ideals. For the orientalists and
indologists, understanding Indian thought was essential for
the scientific exploration and objectification of India's
past. In the context of the missionary and indological works
the term 'Indian Philosophy' refers primarily to the philosophical
content of concepts, doctrines, and world-views found in religious
and other texts belonging to the Indian tradition. The questions
arising out of such works pertain to the accuracy of translation
from Sanskrit into European as well as other Indian languages,
periodization of the texts, and classification of various
'systems' of thought.
Unlike the term 'Indian Philosophy', the term 'Modern Indian
Philosophy' expresses an Indian response to Western philosophical
traditions. More specifically, it represents the response
of the English educated professional Indian philosophers of
the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It not only marks
the adoption and assimilation of European philosophical concepts,
doctrines, and ways of thinking, but also and perhaps more
significantly, marks the reinterpretation of the indigenous
concepts and ways of thinking in the light of what is assimilated.
The term 'modern Indian philosophy' thus stands for the two
way hermeneutical exercise of understanding the 'other' and
of self-understanding. In this understanding, the western
concept of philosophy and the Indian concept of darsana become
agonistic. The relationship between the two terms is not merely
one of semantic equivalence. On the one hand the concept of
darsana serves as a device for an appropriation of the western
concept of philosophy; and on the other hand it is used for
asserting the uniqueness of the Indian way of philosophising
in terms of an intuitive realization of the highest reality
as opposed to the discursive sprit of western philosophy.
The evaluation and assessment of this response remains an
unfinished task. A scholar who has worked and written primarily
on the basis of Sanskrit texts is usually treated as a mere
historian of the classical Sanskrit tradition; if, on the
other hand he has worked primarily in English, he is considered
to be at best a second-hand historian of Western philosophy
and a superficial imitator of the British. However, a closer
look at the work of the Indian philosophers of this period
teaching and writing in the Indian universities might reveal
a different story. Their philosophical thought and writings
fit neither of these caricatures. Instead, many of them pursued
philosophy with great intellectual originality by engaging
creatively with both the Western and the Indian traditions,
often making effective use of Western texts and ideas in the
service of distinctively Indian philosophical, political and
aesthetic purposes. Indian philosophers of this period wrote
in a context of cultural fusion generated by the British colonial
rule. As a consequence, they pursued Indian philosophy in
order to render it both accessible and acceptable to the Anglophone
world abroad, as well as the educated Indian populace at home.
Much of the academic philosophical work of this period, despite
its manifest philosophical originality and depth, is now largely
ignored, not only abroad, but even in India. This seminar
is a step towards remedying this lamentable neglect, and recovering
this aspect of Indian cultural heritage, bringing together
scholars who have, in recent years been working independently
on the thought of some salient philosophers of this period
so as to facilitate the sharing of their findings and focus
attention on this body of work as a whole. It will primarily
address philosophical writings in English produced by scholars
located in the universities of colonial India, the role of
academic philosophy in the cultural and social ferment of
that period, its impact upon post-Independence Indian philosophy
and its seminal impact on the development of cross-cultural
philosophy. This seminar will raise questions concerning the
development of cosmopolitan consciousness in the Indian colonial
context; the Indian philosophical contribution to the globalization
of culture; the intellectual agency of Indian communities;
and the roots of cross-cultural philosophy as it is practiced
today.
The following themes (without being exhaustive) are suggested
to the prospective speakers:
a) Orientalist and Indological reconstruction of Indian Philosophy
b) An assessment of modern Indian philosophers' response to
the western ideas and doctrines. This may include philosophical
writings by professional philosophers like K.C.Bhattacharyya,
Ras Vihari Das, B.N.Seal, Hiralal Haldar, G.R.Malkani, T.R.V.
Murty, R.D.Ranade, P.T.Raju, S.K.Maitra, among others as well
as those of Tagore and Aurobindo among others.
c) Reconstruction of traditional Vedanta.
d) Spiritualization of Indian philosophy.
e) Writing the History of Indian Philosophy.
f) Social and philosophical relevance of philosophical writings
during the colonial period.
g) Tradition, Creativity, and Modernity.
h) Colonialism and traditional forms of knowledge.
|
