The history of the Vedanta school is well known since the time of Sankaracarya on, and its prehistory before Sankara is quite obscure. However, from the time of compilation of major Upanisads to Sankara there is a period of thousand years, and the tradition of Upanisads was not lost; there appeared many philosophers and dogmaticians, although their thoughts are not clearly known. The author has made clear the details of the pre-Sankara Vedanta philosophy, utilizing not only Sanskrit materials, but also (...) Pali, Prakrit (Jain), as well as Tibetan and Chinese sources. In this respect this is quite a unique work. For this work the author was awarded the Imperial Prize by the Academy of Japan. Some sections of this work were already published in Indian as well as European and American journals in English. This work is a complete English translation of the entire book. The English translation was done with the financial aid by the Harvard-Yenching Institute, and the final touch was given by Mr. Trevor Leggett, the British writer, who is well-versed in Sanskrit as well as in Japanese. (shrink)

This is a lucid and rewarding book which sets a new standard for dealing with a history of thought across many cultures.

東西の中世思想に秘められた驚くべき平行的発展を解明する。西洋中心の既成概念を捨て、事実を冷静に見つめ直し、本来の「中世」を取り戻す。.

新編集による決定版選集。地域や民族を超えた思想。主な文化圏で都市が成立し世界国家へと発展していく時代に現われた諸思想。それらの持つ普遍的意義を既成の教義学とは異なる視点から解明する。.

While many historians take the view that Japanese philosophy only started with the Meiji Restoration and the entrance of Western culture into Japan, Hajime Nakamura demonstrates that there has been a long history of philosophy in Japan prior to the Meiji. Beginning in 592 AD, when Japan first became a centralized state and continuing into the early modern era, this work deals with the important problems and salient feature of Japanese philosophical thought at all stages in its development.

新編集による決定版選集。地域や民族を超えた思想。主な文化圏で都市が成立し世界国家へと発展していく時代に現われた諸思想。それらの持つ普遍的意義を既成の教義学とは異なる視点から解明する。.

1. Yōga to Sānkiya no shisō -- Niyāya to Vaishēshika no shisō -- 3. Mīmānsā to bunpōgaku no shisō -- 4. Vēdānta shisō no tenkai.