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Indian Philosophy
by Sue Hamilton
Oxford Paperbacks, 2001
ISBN: 0192853740
£5.99

The book delivers on its promise. It offers an accessible short introduction into a vast, complex and 'exotic' for the Westerner topic. I had to re-read it 2-3 times to get a fuller understanding, and it was worth it. 

It is very interesting to notice the vast richness, the diversity and long history of Indian thought, which is not well known in the West. You still meet many books entitled 'History of Philosophy' while what they mean is 'History of Western Philosophy'.

It is also interesting to find out parallels between Eastern and Western thought.

Although it would be too crude to summarise it this way, I would say that there are two major strands in Indian philosophy; one being the brahmanical tradition and its attachment to the proper execution of its rituals and the study of its books; the other being a more radical strand, exemplified by Buddhism, that dismisses the ritualistic tradition as pointless. 

The nature of reality is a central point of concern for both of them; while brahmanic thought tends to see reality as constructed by the words of the traditional scriptures, Bhuddism focuses instead on the ways humans sense the world and how that affects their viewpoints.

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