"What would emerge from the dissolution of myth was the birth of philosophy—and its first great topic was Oneness." Thomas C. McEvilley, "The Shape of Ancient Thought"
Great article, Sandeep. I really appreciate how you bring the ancients to life. Here you’ve limned the origin story (well, most likely) of philosophy, and demonstrated, against centuries of Eurocentrism, that India played as significant a role as Greece. William Jones, that great recognizer of patterns, saw the uncanny similarities between Pythagoras and Plato on the one hand and ancient Indian thought on the other; he thought they may have sprung from a common source. McEvilley is definitely in favor of diffusion, and in the case of the “One”, from India to Greece. As you note, there is so much we will simply never know, but we cannot ignore these tantalizing observations. My candidates for East-West diffusion would be Porphyry/Plotinus from Upanishadic sources), and, contra McEvilley, Sextus Empiricus and the Pyhronnist school via Madhyamaka Buddhism. And then of course Pythagoras!
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Vik! I really want to dive more deeply into Pythagoras - the vegetarianism, the belief in reincarnation, etc. point to so much connection with India.
Liking all the extensive quotes from the Upanishads. It's a good motivation to go back and read them in full. Fascinated by the logical parallels between Greek and Hindu philosophy. Also interesting - wonder where the idea of the five elements came from. Seems we take that for granted but that also seems to be a point of similarity. Cheers
Yes, sometimes I think I should just shut up and only quote the Upanishads :). The Doctrine of Five Fires is so similar to Heracles' theories, I only covered a tiny amount of all of the parallels.
Great article, Sandeep. I really appreciate how you bring the ancients to life. Here you’ve limned the origin story (well, most likely) of philosophy, and demonstrated, against centuries of Eurocentrism, that India played as significant a role as Greece. William Jones, that great recognizer of patterns, saw the uncanny similarities between Pythagoras and Plato on the one hand and ancient Indian thought on the other; he thought they may have sprung from a common source. McEvilley is definitely in favor of diffusion, and in the case of the “One”, from India to Greece. As you note, there is so much we will simply never know, but we cannot ignore these tantalizing observations. My candidates for East-West diffusion would be Porphyry/Plotinus from Upanishadic sources), and, contra McEvilley, Sextus Empiricus and the Pyhronnist school via Madhyamaka Buddhism. And then of course Pythagoras!
Thanks again.
Thanks for the thoughtful comment, Vik! I really want to dive more deeply into Pythagoras - the vegetarianism, the belief in reincarnation, etc. point to so much connection with India.
Very nicely written!
Much appreciated!
Liking all the extensive quotes from the Upanishads. It's a good motivation to go back and read them in full. Fascinated by the logical parallels between Greek and Hindu philosophy. Also interesting - wonder where the idea of the five elements came from. Seems we take that for granted but that also seems to be a point of similarity. Cheers
Yes, sometimes I think I should just shut up and only quote the Upanishads :). The Doctrine of Five Fires is so similar to Heracles' theories, I only covered a tiny amount of all of the parallels.