2014/02/27 by Robert Thomas · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Evolution and Science Education #Theology and Philosophy of Evil #Religion, Ecology, and Ethics #Hinduism #Creationism #Dharma #Vedanta #Epistemology #Philosophy #Materialism #Indian philosophy #Context (archaeology) #Evolutionism #Sociology #Religious studies #Social science #Buddhism #Theology #History
paper · doi:10.1093/socrel/sru003
openalex publication_date 2014/02/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Hindu Perspectives on Evolution challenges some of the myths associated with the debate of creationism and evolutionism in the Hindu context by focusing on the Hindu religion's take on the question of evolution and design. The major aim of the book is to critically engage the notion of the natural coexistence of Hinduism and science. The principal argument of the book is that, “while those Hindus who denied and continue to deny Darwinism outright were and are relatively few, the apparent historical ease of assimilating modern science and evolutionary theory on the part of Hindus is misleading—indeed, an illusion” (5). The author engages with different schools of thought and periods to illustrate this. Part 1 of the book deals with how different classical Hindu schools and traditions responded to the question of creationism and design. It has a rich discussion of various classical Indian philosophical traditions such as Advaita Vedanta of Sankara, Nyaya-Vaisesika of Udayana, and Visistadvaita Vedanta of Ramanuja. The author argues that even though some of the ancient Hindu traditions like Carvaka have a rich tradition of materialism, in general, other schools tend to give importance to Brahman/Atman. For them, consciousness, or atman, is superior to matter. This section invites the reader to think about the discourse of creationism beyond the Western imagination. The discussion on Carvaka and Samkhya problematizes the orientalist understanding of the East as a spiritual land. This section is rich in its philosophical discussion, which makes it difficult for those not familiar with classical Indian philosophy to comprehend.