History, Time, and Knowledge in Ancient India
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4496460 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Roy W Perrett (0000-0002-4539-5507, Massey University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 307-321 |
| Publication date | 1999-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History and Theory (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2656 • E-ISSN: 1468-2303 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/0018-2656.00094 |
| OpenAlex | W2070737781 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
The lack of interest in history in ancient India has often been noted and contrasted with the situation in China and the West. Notwithstanding the vast body of Indian literature in other fields, there is a remarkable dearth of historical writing in the period before the Muslim conquest and an associated indifference to historiography. Various explanations have been offered for this curious phenomenon, some of which appeal to the supposed currency of certain Indian philosophical theories. This essay critically examines such "philosophical explanations."I argue that it is not true that there was no history in ancient India, and it is not surprising that there was no developed historiography or scientific history. It is both true and surprising that there was no real importance attached to history in ancient India. An adequate philosophical exxplanation for this historica phenomenon, however, is not to be found in appeals to the influence of indigenous metaphysical theories about time and the self. A much more plausible philosophical explanation appeals instead to certain features of classical Indian epistemology
Aesthetics · Appeal · Archaeology · Epistemology · Historiography · History of science · Indigenous · Literature · Metaphysics · Period (music) · Phenomenon · History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Indian History and Philosophy · Law · Philosophy · Seventeenth-Century Political and Philosophical Thought
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 2001 - 2023 (23) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |