Two Paradigms of the Subject: Indian and European Traditions in Search of Supreme Being
Voprosy filosofii July 6, 2025 Peer reviewed DOI: 10.21146/0042-8744-2025-7-153-158 via Semantic Scholar
Summary
In classical Indian philosophy, the subject (ātman, puruṣa) is strictly separated from the external world, bodily and psychic elements, thinking, intellect, and emotions; in Vaiśeṣika, even consciousness is external to the subject. European philosophy, by contrast, long attributed qualities like thinking, reasoning, sense perception, emotions, and memory to the subject as 'soul', often highlighting the rational and intellectual element as the principal connection to the divine. Both traditions originally shared a strong soteriological intention, proposing means such as intellectual understanding, insight, psychotechnical methods, and mysticism.
Study at a glance
| Design | theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key finding | Classical Indian philosophy treats the subject as strictly separate from bodily and mental elements, while European philosophy traditionally attributes rational and intellectual qualities to the subject as soul. |
Abstract
The article examines approaches to understanding the subject in traditional Indian and European philosophy. The author draws on concepts from Advaita Vedānta, Yoga, Sāṁkhya, Vaiśeṣika, and Buddhism, highlighting their common cultural core. The article notes that in most classical Indian systems, the subject (ātman, puruṣa) was considered as strictly separated from the external world, the bodily and psychic elements (understood as a part of natural world), thinking, intellect and emotions. In the Vaiśeṣika system, even consciousness was viewed as a quality external to the subject. Both traditions, European and Indian, initially had a strong soteriological intention, and the inner core of human being was considered to be the connecting element helping to attain the higher state of existence. In both India and Europe, various means have been proposed for this purpose, such as intellectual understanding, the way of knowledge as insight, psychotechnical methods, and mysticism. In contrast to Indian philosophy, European philosophy over a long period of time attributed to the subject, understood as ‘soul’, such qualities as thinking, reasoning, sense perception, emotions, memory and the like. All these qualities were believed to be that which connects man with the divine, and it was the rational and intellectual element in man that has been often highlighted as the principal one in European thought.