Swami Krishnananda-Studies in Comparitive Philosophy, en
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STUDIES IN COMPARATIVE
PHILOSOPHY
by
Swami Krishnananda
The Divine Life Society
Sivananda Ashram, Rishikesh, India
(
Internet Edition: For free distribution only
)
Website: www.swami-krishnananda.org
CONTENTS
Introduction
3
Socrates
4
Plato
6
Aristotle
12
Plotinus
16
Rene Descartes
19
Benedict Spinoza
24
G. W. Leibniz
30
John Locke
37
George Berkeley
42
David Hume
45
Immanuel Kant
48
George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
57
Arthur Schopenhauer
64
Friedrich Nietzsche
69
William James
71
Henri Bergson
76
Samuel Alexander
81
Alfred North Whitehead
84
The Neo-Hegelians
90
The Importance of the Study of Western Thought
94
Philosophy and Life
101
Studies in Comparative Philosophy by Swami Krishnananda
1
INTRODUCTION
It has been said that there is a radical difference between the Western and the Eastern
methods of approach in the pursuit of philosophy. Western philosophers are generally
distinguished from the Eastern by their exclusively rational approach to the ultimate
reality of the universe, and in their paying not much attention to or being totally
indifferent to the method of intuition. Some historians of Western philosophy have gone
even to the extent of dubbing all Eastern thought as shot through with ‘faith’ and not
deserving of inclusion in such a chronicle. No doubt, there were some exceptionally
great mystics in the West too, who proclaimed the possibility of an intuitional approach
to Truth by transcending the realms of sense, understanding and reason. But they were
mostly the targets of suspicion and a superior attitude on the part of the logical thinkers.
On a study of the history of philosophy in the West we come across variegated types of
philosophers who made diverse approaches to the problems of life and established
several schools of philosophy which generally comprehend vast fields of observation,
investigation and research, such as logic, epistemology, metaphysics, aesthetics, ethics,
psychology and mysticism. In modern times, however, the implications of the
discoveries in physical science have practically become a part of the study of philosophy.
There are those in India, however, who think that an attempt to study and understand
the methods and conclusions of these thinkers in the West is just energy misspent,
holding, as they do, the view that the method of faith and intuition in philosophy mostly
followed in India is the only practicable, useful and trustworthy way. We need not take
any one side of these extreme views of the traditional conservatives of either the West or
the East. Knowledge is neither Western nor Eastern, but universal. It is also not true
that the Indian philosophers abrogated reason as absolutely futile, though they
emphasised its natural limits. There are certain schools in India which establish their
systems exclusively on rational grounds without discrediting the value and need of
intuition in any way. The philosopher Shankara, who was an ardent adherent to
authority and revelation, made full use of the powers of reason in founding his
stupendous system and said that the Vedanta is ornamented by the fact that its strength
lies not merely in appealing to revelation but reason and experience also, adding,
however, a note that reason unbridled which goes counter to revelation should be
rejected as misleading. In our study of philosophy, we may make use of methods and
conclusions of the systems of the West in gaining mastery over the philosophies of
Indian seers and sages. The philosophy of the Vedanta is characterised by integrality in
its meaning, method and scope, built on the foundations of the most incisive logical
analysis, and it rejects nothing as totally useless, though it accepts nothing without
sifting it through the sieve of direct experience in super-sensuous intuition. It would
certainly add to our knowledge to make a comparative study of the philosophies of some
of the great Western thinkers and of the philosophy of the Vedanta, which is the
culmination of Indian Thought. We may begin with the great Greek sage, Socrates.
Studies in Comparative Philosophy by Swami Krishnananda
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SOCRATES
Socrates, the wise man of Greece, concerned himself mostly with practical problems of
life, because mere metaphysical speculation bereft of the application thereof in life he
considered futile. He said: “The student of human learning expects to make something
of his studies for the benefit of himself or others as he likes. Do these explorers into the
divine operations hope that when they have discovered by what forces the various
phenomena occur, they will create winds and waters at will and fruitful seasons? Will
they manipulate these and the like to suit their needs?”
The view of the Vedanta is the same regarding metaphysics as long as it is confined to
the province of reason alone, which exclusively moves along the channels dug out by
sense-perception. It was the view of the Buddha, too. Reason cannot give us genuine
knowledge of reality. But the Vedanta recognises the value of metaphysics when it is
expected to lead one to the final realisation of the Divine Being. In fact no one can live
without a metaphysics of life. It may be a good metaphysics or a bad one; but that there
is one which everyone follows in leading his life no one can deny. Rational conviction of
the nature of Reality intensifies one’s faith in it. We cannot go far with mere airy ethics
which has no metaphysical background. Ethics is always based on metaphysics. No one
can be convinced as to the value of goodness, virtue or righteousness without being
assured of a goal towards which they are expected to direct a person and on whose
principles they are ultimately based. Whether Socrates himself had a personal
metaphysics of his own or not we cannot clearly say. But from the writings of Plato we
understand that he had one, though he did not make explicit mention of the same,
perhaps in view of the fact that it would not be of much benefit to the people of his time.
Anyway, a metaphysics for life is an absolute necessity, though we need not label it with
that frightening term from which people incapable of hard thinking are likely to shy
away. This will be clear from a study of the philosophy of the Vedanta.
Socrates sought a rational basis for ethics and morality, for the practice of right and
wrong, good and bad. He did not agree with the Sophists that ‘man is the measure of all
things’ in the sense that what pleases man is right for him and that there is no such
thing as the universally good. To Socrates, knowledge is the highest good or virtue. A
knowledge of virtue is to precede its practice. A rational understanding of the nature and
meaning of goodness, self-control, truth, wisdom and justice is the pre-condition of
their being practised in life. It was the principle of Socrates that no man is voluntarily
bad or involuntarily good. Evil is the result of ignorance. Those who have right
knowledge cannot go counter to the canons of virtue.
The Vedanta is in agreement with Socrates in holding the view that the practice of virtue
should be preceded by a rational understanding of the implications and the nature of
virtue. It says that
viveka
(understanding) should precede
vairagya
(dispassion) and
the practice of
shatsampat
(six ethical virtues), which means that an aspirant after
moksha
(liberation), or the final salvation of the soul, should have a profound
discernment of the difference that exists between the real and the unreal, in order that
his renunciation of the unreal and the practice of self-control may have meaning and
value. There cannot be true renunciation or self-control without a correct understanding
of the truths implied in their practice. Knowledge precedes action of all kinds. The good
Studies in Comparative Philosophy by Swami Krishnananda
3
is a universal principle and not a private fancy. This is the opinion of both Socrates and
the Vedanta. To both knowledge is the highest good, but the Vedanta gives a warning to
people, which we do not see Socrates doing, that theoretical knowledge is not virtue and
that it is possible for a man of such shallow knowledge to turn to evil and to perpetrate
wrong. It is common that people know that they should not tell a lie, and yet many of
them do not speak the truth. This is the inscrutable illusion covering the consciousness
of man, says the Vedanta. People know that they should not hurt others, and yet they
hurt others in spite of the knowledge of the wrong of hurting others. The knowledge of
the importance of virtue does not deter people from moving to the evil side of things.
The question often raised against the dictum of Socrates that knowledge is virtue is: why
do people pursue the wrong path in spite of their knowledge of the right? Yes, we can
defend Socrates by saying that such a wise man as he was could not have meant by
knowledge some theoretical opinion but knowledge including a perfect discipline of the
will. Those who have genuine knowledge of Truth cannot act wrongly, for virtue is for
one’s own interest, joy and honour. Virtue and happiness mean the same thing but one
cannot be virtuous without knowledge.
Socrates says: “I do nothing but to go about persuading you all, old and young alike, not
to take thought for your person or properties, but first and chiefly to care about the
greatest improvement of the soul. I tell you that virtue is not given by money, but that
from virtue comes money, and every other good, public as well as private.”
And this is what the Vedanta holds. It is proper to go on persuading and convincing
people so that they may move along the path of righteousness which leads to the highest
good, viz., liberation of the soul and to teach the disciples to go on with this work of the
dissemination of spiritual knowledge throughout the world so that peace and joy may
reign supreme and the life of man may be crowned with blessedness. This is what all
great men have done and do even today. This is the expression of the irresistible urge of
the spiritual consciousness to recognise itself in every entity of the universe, which all
are, after all, its own organic parts objectified through sense.
Studies in Comparative Philosophy by Swami Krishnananda
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