Study Of Indian Philosophy In Germany And Austria

Author(s): Wilhelm Halbfass
Publisher: Wilhelm Halbfass

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THE STUDY OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY IN GERMANY AND AUSTRIA
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The general and philosophical interest in Indian thought was, however, most successfully promoted by A. Schopenhauer—with the somewhat questionable effect, that it became almost automatically associated with “idealism " on the one hand,“ pessimism” on the other hand. Inspired by Schopenhauer, P. Deussen became one of the most devoted Western students of Sanskrit and of Indian philosophy. His translations of sixty Upanişads and of Sankara's Brahmasūtrabhāşya 6, as well as the six volumes of his “ Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophie” (General History of Philosophy, Leipzig 1894-1913; vols. 1-3 on Indian philosophy), bear witness to a unique combination of a somewhat one-sided enthusiasm with thorough scholarship. Deussen's younger contemporary, the philosopher-theologian R. Otto, contributes especially to the knowledge of Visişțădvaita?; and in general, Indian thought has become a really tangible factor of German thought and culture in the first decades of the 20th century. However, the attitude of the more conservative academic historians of philosophy remains hesitant, if not explicitly negative. Statements reach from basic doubts as to the accessibility and intelligibility of Indian philosophy 8 to categorically denying the title of philosophy to Indian thought.' In spite of the repeatedly manifested interest of such leading 20th century thinkers as M. Scheler, M. Heidegger and K. Jaspers 10, we may say that the contributions of German philosophers resp. academic teachers of philosophy to the interpretation of Indian philosophy remain somewhat scattered and casual; and there has been a certain tendency to leave this field to less academic thinkers, such as L. Ziegler, the count H. Keyserling, and H. Kassner.
Most of the pioneering and fundamental work has been done by Indologists, such as O. Strauss ( for some time co-worker of P. Deussen ), G. Thibaut, R. Garbe, also H. von Glasenapp, H. Jacobi, P. Hacker and, with a very different approach, W. Ruben. Others, like E. Hultzsch, E. Windisch, F.O.
6 Sechzig Upanishad's des Veda (Leipzig 1897); Die Sūtra's des Vedānta.... nebst dem vollständigen Commentare des Çankara (Leipzig 1887).
7 Cf. Dipikā des Nivāsa (Tübingen 1916); Rāmānuja, Siddhānta (Jena 1917); among his other contributions, cf., e.g., Vişnu-Nārāyaṇa (Jena 1917); West-Östliche Mystik (Gotha 1916).
8 Cf. H.-G. Gadamer, Preface to : Dilthey, W.:. Grundriß der allgemeinen Geschichte der Philosophie (Frankfurt 1949) 18.
9 E.g. Windelband, W.: Lehrbuch der Geschichte der Philosophie (Tübingen 16 1957), 22, although granting the possibility of certain steps towards philosophy in Oriental cultures, presents the history of philosophy as a strictly European phenomenon and explicitly excludes Chinese and Indian thought.--A brief discussion of the problem of the applicability of the term "philosophy" to Indian thought is given by W. Ruben (cf. the book referred to in n. 33).
10 Cf. the sections on the Buddha and Nāgārjuna in Jaspers' Die großen Philosophen (München 1957), also H. von Glasenapp, Das Indienbild deutscher Denker (Stuttgart 1960). OJ22