Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Bibliography (Set of 2 Volumes)

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This continues the first volume of the series. It indicates the scope of the project and provides a list of sources which will be surveyed in the subsequent volumes, as well as provide a guide to secondary literature for further study of Indian philosophy. It lists, in relative chronological order, Sanskrit and Tamil works. All known editions and translation into European languages are cited; where published versions of the text are not known, a guide to the location of manuscripts of the work is provided. Also it adds books and articles in European languages relating to the classical text, as well as those of a more general nature relating to schools or systems of Indian Language thought. The citations of published works in the present volume will cover 10,000 items.

Karl H. Potter is Professor of Philosophy and south Asian Studies at the University of Washington, and is General Editor of the present series, which attempts to summarily present the thought of all the great philosophical systems of India.

This is the first Volume of the Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, an endeavor by an international team of scholars to present the contents of Indian philosophical texts to a wider public than has hitherto been possible. This Bibliography in effect constitutes, with additions and revisions, the table of contents for the subsequent volumes of the Encyclopedia, each of which deals with the literature of one of the systems of Indian thought. The Board of Editors for this project includes scholars from India, Japan, Europe and America, and contributions are solicited from every Part of the globe.

The remaining volumes of the Encyclopedia attempt to provide a definitive account of current knowledge about each of the systems of classical Indian philosophy. Each of those volumes consists of an extended analytical essay together with summaries of every extant work of the system for which a summarizer can be found. The staff of the Encyclopedia hopes to be able to present accounts of Indian philosophical systems which are philosophically interesting while maintaining high standards of scholarship.

With such an ambitious project in mind it has been necessary to delimit the scope of the Encyclopedia's coverage rather carefully. The Encyclopedia is intended to provide an account of works of Indian philosophical literature which are (1) of philosophical interest throughout; (2) theoretical rather than purely practical in their intended function, and (3) polemical or at least expository in a context where defence of one view among alternatives is appropriate. The decision to limit coverage to this area implies no disrespect to the much wider philosophical literature of India. It is not denied that, for example, the Upanisads and the Bhagavadgita are philosophical texts, though they are not included within the primary scope of this Encyclopedia (though commentaries upon them are). Furthermore, it is freely admitted that there have undoubtedly been important omissions whose absence is not easily, if at all, defensible according to the criteria just set forth.

Some additional remarks of explanation concerning the first- mentioned criterion of inclusion are perhaps called for. Undoubtedly the gravest difficulty is met in trying to distinguish "philosophical" works from works in other fields. The compiler has attempted to utilize distinctions drawn from both Western and Indian understanding of the scope of philosophy in preparing his list of works. In Indian terms this Bibliography, and the Encyclopedia generally, is concerned primarily with material designated as darsana in Indian curricular classifications. A good deal of the darSana literature is didactic in function, teaching proper practices in seeking salvation-this portion is excluded by the second criterion. There are other works, however, which are in Western terms theological rather than philosophical, even though Indian classifications do not distinguish these areas. Works which are clearly theological or religiously sectarian have been excluded (although title of some such works may remain in this edition of the Bibliography due to the compiler's ignorance of the nature of the work). Classics such as the Upanisads and the Pali and Jain canons are not listed since though they contain philosophical material they are not sustainedly polemical and not systematically philosophical throughout. Again, however, commentaries on such works fall within the scope of coverage here.

The number of those who have contributed materially to the preparation of this and previous editions of this Bibliography has grown so large that it is impossible to thank them all. I should like, however, especially to thank Dr. Thomas Ridgeway for his help in preparing this third edition for camera-ready printing, helping me to plumb the obscure complications of the computer.