An Introduction to Indian Philosophy - S. C. Chatterjee and D. Datta

This book is considered a seminal textbook on the subject. Almost everyone who has gone through a formal education in Indian Philosophy cannot ignore this book. Why is that I am reviewing such a standard book instead? The intent is to write a small note on Indian Philosophy. Indian Philosophy is conceptually vast and in some sense Hinduism is not a religion but a whole class of philosophies having common heritage. But, the concepts in Indian Philosophies are varied and sometimes even conflicting with one another. The book classifies 9 such concepts as overarching views on Indian Philosophy. They are:

1. Charvaka - Materialistic Atheist
2. Jaina - Spiritualistic Atheism
3. Bauddha - Spiritualistic, Mostly Theist
4. Nyaya - Perception, Arguments, somewhere a mix of theist and atheist
5. Vaisesika - Human and nature interactions, atheist
6. Sankhya - Causality, liberation, theist
7. Yoga - Paths to liberation, theist
8. Mimansa - Development of Knowledge, soul and energy, both theist as well as atheist
9. Vedanta - Monism, Dualist, Qualified Monism, theist

Indian Philosophy is equally influenced by logic, knowledge creation, and arguments as much as western philosophy. So it should not be considered any different there. However, there is a general belief that it's mostly a theist viewpoint and ritualistic techniques governed by religion. This book tends to clear those views and establishes that Indian Philosophy is as much theist as it's atheistic. So one should not qualify it in that respect. There is a gradual development of thoughts that slowly moved from completely materialistic views to a vedantic theist approach of monism also supported by dualism or even qualified monism at places. Indian Philosophy has also a notion of formal logic syllogism which is slightly different from the western counterpart but has a clear definition that may be utilized to prove validity of arguments. It's not that the logic principles are a system developed in the western world.

Overall if you want to understand the Indian Philosophy, this is a good starting point. However, there may not be as much relevance if you are thinking of applying any of the principles in life. Moreover, this is a serious book needing significant introspection and breaks to assimilate the concepts. Not entirely a breeze read.