School · 1861 CE–present
Modern South Asian philosophy
Modern South Asian philosophy is modern South Asian arguments about colonialism, religion, caste, nationalism, democracy, and global modernity.
Shared questions
- How should inherited South Asian traditions respond to colonial rule and modern political institutions?
Internal disagreements
- Whether reform requires recovering tradition, radical social transformation, spiritual universalism, or anti-caste and anti-colonial politics.
Key texts
- The Reconstruction of Religious Thought in Islam · 1930 — Iqbal's Madras and Aligarh lectures, calling for a re-examination of Islamic philosophy's foundations.
- An Idealist View of Life · 1932 — Radhakrishnan's Hibbert Lectures, restating Advaita for an Anglophone philosophical audience.
- Sadhana: The Realisation of Life · 1913 — Tagore's English lectures on what he called the Upaniṣadic understanding of the self and the world.