2016/01/19 by Ramkrishna Bhattacharya · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Indian and Buddhist Studies #Indian History and Philosophy #Chinese history and philosophy #Materialism #Buddhism #China #Philosophy #Epistemology #History #Theology #Archaeology
paper · doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199314621.013.11
openalex publication_date 2016/01/19 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
The global history of philosophy bears out that materialism emerged in India, China, and Greece, presumably independently of one another. In India it is mainly associated with a school known either as Cārvāka or Lokāyata. This chapter traces the development of materialism in India from the earliest evidence in the Upaniṣads and Indian epics and mentions in Buddhist literature. The emergence and development of the core materialist treatise, the Cārvāka-sūtra, is discussed, and the most important commentators on it including Udbhaṭa. Finally there is an examination of the extent to which it is correct to describe Jayarāśi as a materialist.