Special Issue: Theory and Method in Indian Intellectual History
Authors and affiliations: Department of South Asian, Tibetan and Buddhist Studies, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria
摘要
This essay is an attempt to analyze, classify and illustrate different scholarly approaches to the Sanskrit philosophical commentaries as reflected in some influential and especially thoughtful studies of Indian philosophy; at the same time it highlights some specific features involving commentary and annotation in general, drawing from results of studies on commentaries conducted in other disciplines and fields, such as Classical and Medieval Studies, Theology, and Early English Literature. In the field of South Asian Studies, philosophical commentaries may be assessed from various overlapping and not always exclusive points of view, such as preservation of otherwise lost historical information, historical authenticity and reliability, interpretational innovation, spiritual or experiential insight, philosophical creativity, intellectual liveliness, doxographic intent, degree of incidentality, expository breadth and explanatory depth. The essay provides numerous examples taken from classical to early modern philosophical literature, especially of the Brahminical and Buddhist traditions, and also discusses their diverging perception by modern scholars and interpretators.
目次
Introduction 599 Reconstructing Sa¯nkhya and Vais _ ´es:ika through Commentaries 600 Auto-commentaries and Commentaries by Direct Disciples 602 Superimposition and Promotion of Novel Ideas in Commentaries 603 Timelessness and Commentaries 603 Judging the ‘‘Adequateness’’ of a Commentary 604 Does Philosophy Develop in Commentaries? 606 Philosophically ‘‘Unproductive’’ Commentaries 609 Commentaries as ‘‘Treasuries’’ and ‘‘Rival’’ Texts 611 What is Important and New in Philosophy? 614 Conclusion 615
