Author: Anindita Niyogi Balslev
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 200
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9788120833746
Description
Based on Sanskrit source material, this book is a unique attempt at presenting a comprehensive review of the widely divergent views about time in Indian thought. Clearly written, it succeeds in setting out the issues of discussion pointedly and cogently. Since the concept of time intertwines with such major concepts as that of causality, being and non-being etc., this book also serves as a general introduction to the classic heart of Indian philosophy.
The author has demonstrated a rare ability to translate technical doctrines from one tradition of thought into the language of another', and thus has made it possible-for all those who are concerned with the question of time but do not have access in the Indian conceptual world to appreciate the contributions of Indian thought with regard to this complex question.
Noteworthy is the fact that this book is the first attempt which successfully exposes the simple falsity of such clichés as that the Indian view of time is cyclic as opposed to the Judaeo-Christian understanding of linear time. A Study of Time in Indian Philosophy therefore, renders a valuable service to all those who are concerned with cross-cultural and interreligious exchange.
Contents
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
INTRODUCTION
GENERAL BACKGROUND
CREATION, CAUSALITY, AND TIME
I. i). On the reality of absolute time-the Nyaya-Vaisesika view.
ii). An exhange regarding the idea of present time (vartamana kala).
iii). Is time perceived or inferred?--a debate amongst the Indian realists.
II. i). Time as aspect of concrete becoming-the Sankhya view.
ii). Time as instant-the Yoga view.
iii). Sankhya and Vaisesika on time-a comparative note.
III. i). On time as appearance-the Advaita Vedanta appraisal.
ii). On refutation of the reality of time.
iii). Being timeless in Advaita Vedanta.
IV. i). Time in Jainism.
ii). The Jaina challenge to the Nyaya-Vaisesika conception of singular, ubiquitous time.
V. i). The Buddhist idea of instantaneous being.
ii). Some internal differences regarding the doctrine of momentariness within the Buddhist tradition.
iii). Controversies centering on the Buddhist doctrine of momentariness (ksanikavada). iv). Annihilation and time-a Nyaya-Buddhist controversy.
VI. A note on the problem of time in the perspective of philosophy of language and the idea of the timeless as inexpressible.
VII. An overall view of time in Indian philosophy:
i). Time and consciousness.
ii). A comparative note on the concept of instant (ksana).
iii). The views about time and the problem of change.
iv). Being and time.
VIII. i). The problem of time--an intercultural perspective.
ii). A note on the cyclic and the linear notions of time.
iii). Some parallel ideas in the investigation on time in western philosophy.
iv). The timeless and the temporal-paradox and predicament.
Philosophers discussed in this work and their approximate dates.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX