Indian philosophy

Indian philosophy

Any of the numerous philosophical systems developed on the Indian subcontinent, including both orthodox (astika) systems, namely, the Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa, and Vedanta schools of philosophy, and unorthodox (nastika) systems, such as Buddhism and Jainism. The history of Indian philosophy may be divided into three periods: the prelogical (to the beginning of the Christian era), the logical (1st–11th century), and the ultralogical (11th–18th century). What Dasgupta calls the prelogical stage covers the pre-Mauryan and the Mauryan periods (c. 321–185 BC) in Indian history. The logical period begins roughly with the Kusanas (1st–2nd century AD) and was developed most fully in the Gupta era (3rd–5th century) and in the age of imperial Kanauj (7th century). In the 19th century, newly founded universities introduced Indian intellectuals to Western thought, particularly British empiricism and utilitarianism. Indian philosophy in the early 20th century was influenced by German idealism. Later Indian philosophers made significant contributions to analytic philosophy.