Periodization and historiography of indian philosophy [antikvár]

This volume brings together twelve lectures held at the fourteenth World Sanskrit Conference (Kyoto, September 1-5, 2009) in the context of the panel "On the Historiography and Periodization of Indián Philosophy." The starting point for this panel was the preface to a new edition of Erich Frauwallner's Philosophie des Buddhismus (Berlin 2010) written by the present editor together with Karin Preisendanz. Reflections on Frauwallner's racialist periodization of Indián philosophy led to the realization that scholars had proposed periodizations of Indián philosophy widely divergent from each other, that this topic had never been examined systematically, and that the methodological problems involved by these periodizations had not yet been addressed. When reading various histories of Indián philosophy published over the last hundred years or so, one is reminded of the story about the elephant and the six blind men trying to describe it. There is no consensus even about the broad outline of the historical development of Indián thought as reflected in its diverse divisions into periods. Ever since Paul Deussen published his monumental seven-volume Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung der Religionen [General History of Philosophy With Special Consideration of the Religions] (Leipzig 1894-1917), in which he integrated the history of philosophy in India into the history of philosophy in generál, several attempts were made to periodize the history of Indián thought. Perhaps the best known, at least in the Germán speaking world, is Frauwallner's periodization into the Aryan and non-Aryan periods. Not surprisingly, a consensus as to what are the main periods of Indián philosophy has not been reached, indeed could not be reached in view of the various ideologies presupposed and points of view adapted by scholars of Indián philosophy. It is definitely worthwhile to examine the issue of periodization of philosophy in India anew, not only in a holistic manner, but alsó, and above all, from the point of view of the individual traditions that form the fabric of Indián philosophy. In other words, before we can suggest a generál periodization of Indián philosophy, we have to individually carve out the larger historical dynamics of the most