Global History of Philosophy

Global History of Philosophy
Author: C. Plott
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Total Pages: 714
Release: 2000-12
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9788120805514

The fourth and fifth volumes of the Global History of Philosophy are designated The Period of Scholasticism (part one: 800-1150, part two: 1150-1350) in order to stress that the scholastic method with its emphasis on thesis, antithesis, and attempts at synthesis became universal throughout Eurasia. Scholasticism should not be taken in the pejorative sense as the juggling of arguments by straw men, but in the sense of a challenge even in our own era to work for consistent and comprehensive systematic synthesis. All the older traditions need to be reinterpreted in terms of modern conditions --which after all, is what the Eurasian scholastics of these centuries were doing for their own time. The major developments of this period are Monism in Many Moods during the ninth century, through Exfoliation and Elaboration of those seminal systems in the tenth and eleventh centuries until the time of the Great Summas in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. It was during this time that philosophy and theology developed a very highly sophisticated technique of balancing arguments and refutations and counter-arguments and counter-refutations. Most of these architectonic structurings were in the form of commentaries on basic handbook texts handed down as authoritative scripture. In every culture of Eurasia systematic philosophy as well as intuitive wisdom had reached a high degree of sophistication from which it might be said that it has never quite completely recovered. In terms of method, seldom since has there been such thoroughness in treatment of every single topic, with arguments and counter-arguments architechtonically juxtaposed and counter-balanced into such a grand harmony. As is true of the whole series, these volumes are a new way of exploring the accumulative wisdom of mankind, and in the process explode many of the ethnocentric stereotypes which still hinder intercultural communications and world peace through intercultural understanding.

The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies

The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies
Author: Karl H. Potter
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Total Pages: 772
Release: 1970
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9788120803091

This volume provides a detailed resume of current knowledge about the classical Indian Philosophical systems of Nyaya and Vaisesika in their earlier stages, i.e. covering the literature from their inception in the sutras of Gautama and Kanada before the time of Gangesa (about A.D. 1350). The summaries are arranged in relative chronolo-gical order to assist the reader in tracing the development of the syncretic school,s thought. Scholars around the world-India, Japan, American-have collaborated in the undertaking. The summaries in the volume serve as a tool for introducing Indian thought into their courses on problems of Philosophy, history of thought, etc. and guide the students for further study.

The Buddhist Philosophy of Universal Flux

The Buddhist Philosophy of Universal Flux
Author: Satkari Mookerjee
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publ.
Total Pages: 524
Release: 1997
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 9788120807372

A systematic and clear presentation of the philosophy of critical Realism as expounded by Dignaga and his school. The work is divided into two parts arranged into 26 chapters. Part I discusses the Nature of Existence, Logical Difficulties, Theory of Causation, Universals, Doctrine of Apoha, Theory of Soul and Problem of After-life. Part II deals with the Organic and Inorganic Perception, Inference and Negative Judgement. The two parts bound in one volume deal also with many subsidiary topics.

Information and the History of Philosophy

Information and the History of Philosophy
Author: Chris Meyns
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 393
Release: 2021-06-17
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1351130749

In recent years the philosophy of information has emerged as an important area of research in philosophy. However, until now information’s philosophical history has been largely overlooked. Information and the History of Philosophy is the first comprehensive investigation of the history of philosophical questions around information, including work from before the Common Era to the twenty-first century. It covers scientific and technology-centred notions of information, views of human information processing, as well as socio-political topics such as the control and use of information in societies. Organised into five parts, 19 chapters by an international team of contributors cover the following topics and more: Information before 500 CE, including ancient Chinese, Greek and Roman approaches to information; Early theories of information processing, sources of information and cognition; Information and computation in Leibniz, visualised scientific information, copyright and social reform; The nineteenth century, including biological information, knowledge economies and information’s role in empire and eugenics; Recent and contemporary philosophy of information, including racialised information, Shannon information and the very idea of an information revolution. Information and the History of Philosophy is a landmark publication in this emerging field. As such, it is essential reading for students and researchers in the history of philosophy, philosophy of science and technology, and library and information studies. It is also a valuable resource for those working in subjects such as the history of science, media and communication studies and intellectual history.

Advaita Epistemology and Metaphysics

Advaita Epistemology and Metaphysics
Author: Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 287
Release: 2013-11-05
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1136868909

Based on original translations of passages from the works of three major thinkers of the classical Indian school of Advaita (Sankara, Vacaspati and Sri Harsa), but addressing issues found in Descartes, Berkeley, Hume, Kant, Wittgenstein and contemporary analytic philosophers, this book argues for a philosophical position it calls 'non-realism'. This is the view that an independent, external world must be assumed if the features of cognition are to be explained, but that it cannot be proved that there is such a world, independently of an appeal to cognition itself. This position is constructed against idealist denials of externality, realist arguments for an independent world and the sceptical denial of the coherence of cognition.