The Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies (Vol. 4)

by Karl H. Potter and Gerald James Larson (Ed.) and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya (Ed.)

The aim of this series is to present the contents of different streams of Indian Philosophical texts to make more and more people aware about Indian philosophical thought.

Samkhya is one of India's oldest philosophical systems, and this volume of the 'Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies', coedited by Gerald James Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya, and under the general editorship of Karl H. Potter, traces the history of the system from its beginnings in the third or fourth century B.C.E. up through the twentieth century.

The volume includes a lengthy Introduction (written by G. J. Larson) which discusses the history of the system and its philosophical contours overall. The remainder of the volume includes summaries in English of all extant Sanskrit texts of the Samkhya system. Many of the summaries are the texts that have never been edited, translated or studied before, most notably extensive treatments of the 'Yuktidipika', the 'Samkhya-vrtti' and the 'Samkhyasaptativrtti'.

The volume is designed for philosophers, cultural historians and students of comparative studies generally. In addition, since the volume contains to much material that has never been published before, it will also prove to be of interest to area specialists, Indologists and Sanskritists.

About the Author:

Karl H. Potter is Professor of Philosophy and South Asian Studies and Chairman of the Philosophy Department at the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. He is the General Editor of the Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies.