Essentials of Indian Philosophy

By Dr. Bhaskar Bhattacharyya & Dr. Tejasha Kalita | Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, Guwahati

Learners enrolled: 586

Indian philosophy is considered a central point of Indian Knowledge systems. To know about Indian knowledge systems we have to study the different schools of Indian Philosophy. This particular MOOC on Indian Philosophy attempts to help the learners across the disciplines know about Indian knowledge systems. Studying this course, learners will not only be able to explore some basic concepts of our Vedic system, which is considered to be a treasure trove of knowledge, but also be able to discuss the different issues explored by different schools of Indian Philosophical system. Over and above, this course concisely attempts to explore social, moral, religious, and spiritual aspects of our day-to-day life. Therefore, this course will help our learners irrespective of disciplines to search the roots of our knowledge systems by studying the different schools of Indian philosophy.

Summary

Course Status :	Upcoming
Course Type :	Not Applicable
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Philosophy
Credit Points :	4
Level :	Diploma
Start Date :	01 Jan 2025
End Date :	30 Apr 2025
Enrollment Ends :	28 Feb 2025
Exam Date :	17 May 2025 IST
Exam Shift :	Shift-II

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

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Course layout

Weeks	Modules	Topics
WEEK-1	Module 1: An Introduction to Indian Philosophy	Unit 1: Nature and Scope of Indian Philosophy
		Unit 2: Basic Philosophical Ideas in the Vedas, Ritam, Stages of Development of Theism
WEEK-2	Module 2: Gitā’s Idea of Karma yoga	Unit 4: Gitā’s idea of Karma yoga
WEEK- 3	Module 3: The Ᾱstika and Nāstika Divisions Schools of Indian Philosophy	Unit 3: The āstika and nāstika Divisions Schools of Indian Philosophy
WEEK-4	Module 4: Cārvāka:: Nature of Knowledge and Metaphysics	Unit 5: Cārvāka: Epistemology
		Unit 6: Cārvāka: Metaphysics
WEEK-5	Module 5: Buddhism: Some Basic Concepts	Unit 7: Buddhism: Four Noble Truths
		Unit 8: Buddhism: Theory of Momentariness
		Unit 9: Buddhism: The Concept of Nirvāna
WEEK-6	Module 6: Jainism: Some Basic Concepts	Unit 10: Jainism: Syādvāda
		Unit 11: Jainism: Anekāntavāda
WEEK: 7	Module 7: Nyāya and Vaiśeṣika: Some basic concepts	Unit 12: Nyāya: Concept of Pramā
		Unit 13: Vaiśeṣika:: Dravya, Guṇa, Sāmānya
WEEK: 8	Module 8: Sāmkhya: Some Basic Concepts	Unit 14: Sāmkhya: Theory of Causation
		Unit 15: Sāmkhya: Puruṣa & Prakṛti
WEEK: 9	Module 9: Yoga and Mīmāṁsā: Some Basic Concepts	Unit 16: Yoga: Concept of Citta –Vṛtti
		Unit 17: Mīmāṁsā: Intrinsic Validity of Knowledge
		Unit 18: Mīmāṁsā theory of Error
WEEK: 10	Module 10: Advaita Vedānta: Some basic concepts	Unit 19: Śaṃkara: Brahman and Māya
		Unit 20: Śaṃkara: Śaṃkara’s Grades of Truth and Reality
WEEK: 11	Module 11: Visistadvaita Vāda: Some Basic Concepts	Unit 21: Rāmānuja: God
		Unit 22: Rāmānuja: Jiva and World

Books and references

1) Chatterjee, S. C. & Dutta, D. M. (1968). An Introduction to Indian Philosophy. University of Calcutta.

2) Hiriyanna, M. (1993). Outlines of Indian philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

3) Radhakrishnan, S. (1923). Indian Philosophy (2 Volumes). Oxford: University Press.

4) Sharma, C. D. (1973). A Critical Survey of Indian Philosophy. Delhi: Motilal Banarasidass

5) Sinha, J. N. Outlines of Indian Philosophy. Calcutta: New Central Book Agency Pvt. Ltd.

6) Tiwari, K. N. (1998), Classical Indian Ethical Thought, Chapter VI, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi

7) The Bhagavad Gita (1992), Translated by S. Radhakrishnan, Oxford University Press, New Delhi

8)Satyanarayana, Y. V. (2010), Ethics: Theory and Practice, Chapter II, Dorling Kindersley

9)Raju, P. T. (1992), The Philosophical Traditions of India, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Delhi.

10) Hiriyanna, M. (2005), Outlines of Indian Philosophy, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd., Delhi.India) Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi.

11) Pandit, Dr. Balkrishna S. (1998) Indian Philosophy, SBD Publishers’ Distributors, Nai Sarak, New Delhi.

12) Puliganda, R. (1975) Fundamentals of Indian Philosophy, Abingdon Press, Nashville, New York.

13) Dasgupta, S. N. (1991). A History of Indian Philosophy. Motilal Banarasi Publication.

14) Kappor, Subodh. (2004) The Systems of Indian Philosophy. Cosmo Publication

15) Coster. G.(1935). Yoga and Western psychology. London: Oxford University Press.

16) Brahma, N.K. (1932). The philosophy of Hindu Sadhana. London: Kegan Paul.

17) Mishra, Hridaya Narayan. (2006) Bharatiya Darshan (Hindi), Sekhar Prakash, Allahabad

Instructor bio

Dr. Bhaskar Bhattacharyya

Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, Guwahati

Dr. Bhaskar Bhattacharyya is Senior Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, India. He received his MA and PhD from Gauhati University, India, in 1999 and 2008, respectively, and served as a Junior Research Fellow of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research in 2001. His areas of interest are philosophy of language and analytic philosophy, and he has published a number of papers in these fields. He is also the author of the book Analytic Philosophy of Wittgenstein.

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Dr. Tejasha Kalita

Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, Guwahati

Dr. Tejasha Kalita serves as an Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University, located in Guwahati, Assam, India. She achieved her M.A. degree from Gauhati University in Assam, India, in the year 2005. Subsequently, she pursued her Ph.D. at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, also situated in Assam, India, and successfully completed it in 2013. As a Project Associate, she conducted a minor research project on Ethnic Philosophies, funded by the ICPR, at the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati. Dr. Kalita's academic pursuits and research areas primarily encompass Applied Ethics, Social & Political Philosophy, and Contemporary Indian Philosophy. Her dedication to these fields is evident through her substantial contribution of numerous research papers.