The Philosophies of India

by Douglas Allen, Lynn Redgrave (Narrated by)

India has perhaps the oldest living philosophical tradition in the world. Though both Buddhism and Jainism began in India, its primary influence is the Vedic tradition. The Vedas are the fundamental Hindu scriptures and the basis of the six systems of Indian philosophy. Hindu philosophy affirms an ultimate or universal reality, but it is also individualistic, embracing many alternatives or paths to one reality. Also characteristic is the belief in reincarnation and karma, the law of moral causation. The World of Philosophy series presents the questions, interests, and worldviews of the world's great philosophers and philosophical traditions. Special emphasis on clear and relevant explanations, in understandable language, give you a new arsenal of insights toward living a better life.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook, Hinduism, Buddhism

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Douglas^^Allen

Reviews

[CA Ram Melam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This audiobook is all about Indian philosophy. Thought philosophy here is always metaphysical and esoteric, in long run one may observe it is superior to Western Philosophy. According to this philosophy the dharma is cold, insensitive and callous. So, one regulate his bad actions conform to the good actions.

The superiority of Indian or Eastern philosophy lies in practice. A few decades ago the people of Indian region used to practice these philosophical cannons. However, due to invasion of western culture, the authenticity to the Indian philosophy diluted. Now the west is looking at the east and the east is looking at the west.

[Dr Jyotsna Iyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enlightens philosophies originated back in India. and this is an audio book so could not get myself into it unlike books.

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short, simple, sweet

[Alex Shrugged · Rating 2 out of 5]

I do not trust this particular audio course. I noted an error in the beginning and another further along, so this audio course lost a star from me.

The narrator stated that one cannot be a Jewish philosopher and an atheist. I am a Jew and I know that one is allowed to be an atheist because a Jewish authority told me so. The logic goes like this: If you believe in God, then there is no need to command you to believe in God, and if you do NOT believe in God, then who is commanding you?

In Judaism atheism is NOT the preferred way, but it is allowed as long as you follow the other commandments. In another example: as I am driving through the city I might not believe that the mayor exists, but as long as I obey the speed limit and stop at all the stop signs, it really doesn't matter what I believe.

In another place in the audio course the narrator claims that Maimonides said that God has no attributes. In fact what Maimonides said was that God cannot be described with positive attributes, but only with negative ones such as: God is not corporal. With a collection of what God is not, one can describe God. (Sounds like a calculus problem, eh? One cannot know the exact area under a curve, but one can get close enough to say useful things about it.)

I know a lot about Judaism, but I do not know a lot about Hinduism or Buddhism, so how do I determine that there are no errors in the places where I am not well studied? I can assume that the presenters are experts only in their narrow field. Thus they might have made a mistake outside of their area of expertise, but they could be perfectly sound within it. How would I know?

I can only warn the reader/listener.

I doubt I will listen to this course again.

[Priya Rangaswamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a nice overview and introduction to the philosophies that originated in India. A great deal of this book is devoted to the philosophy and teachings of Hinduism followed by Buddhism with a passing mention of Jainism with discussions on the ultimate reality or absolute consciousness as espoused by these philosophies. The book concludes with Gandhi’s philosophy of Truth as the ultimate reality. The book doesn’t seem to be strictly chronological as it starts with laying out the structure and chronology of the various philosophical texts of Hinduism, primarily the Vedic texts with discussions of each text. It then discusses the Buddhist philosophy before coming back to discuss the Bhagavad Gita. It was not clear why the author chose to discuss Buddhism in between the discussions on the Hindu philosophical works of the vedas and the Gita. Regardless, each chapter is succinct. However, my only sore point with this book is its support of the Aryan invasion theory which is highly debated (as also acknowledged in Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens) and the ‘mythical’ Aryans or Indo-Europeans as the originators of the vedas. This apart, I will recommend this book as a primer for anyone interested in the philosophies of India.

[Just Mate A Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not highly descriptive, just introductory. The various school of thoughts of Hinduism are explained with as simplicity as possible. I felt Samkhya philosophy, Buddhism, and mahatma Gandhi were highlighted content in the book

[Matthew Ueckermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit concerned about the age, but it didn’t seem too dated. Listening while running probably isn’t the best time to absorb all the info though, but I think I’m more aware of more terms. Seems like an okay starting point.

[Giorgio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but not good.
Maybe I am just demanding too much of an introductory book.

[Jake Sylvestre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very much an introductory text

[Pontus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent introduction...

[s]

Introduction. The audiobook reader horribly over-pronounces all non-English words, which is especially jarring contrasted with her otherwise self-assured and fluent speech.

[Julia Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have it on audio and look forward to listening to it again.

[Ruuk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good beginners book on Indian Philosophies

[Heber · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short book, a quick overview of Indian Philosophies. As this is a short book you can't expect it to answer all your questions. To the contrary it created more questions than answers. I found it to be interesting, informative and well written.

[Anjalica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome knowledge and wisdom