Barua/Exploring Hindu Philosophy, Conclusion. Reorienting the Mind’s Compass

We highlight three interrelated motifs across the milieus of Hindu philosophy: 1. the relation between descriptive accounts and revisionary accounts of what exists, 2. the role of cognition in revealing or constructing the world, and 3. the relation between philosophy and emancipation. Questions such as “What is the good life?” and “How do I find happiness?” are embedded in constellations of questions such as, “Why am I here in the first place?”, “What is it that I know about the world I inhabit?”, and “How reliable is reason as a tool of human inquiry?” If philosophy begins with wonder, then it ends with the removal of suffering – this is what many Hindu philosophers seem to be claiming. And in pursuit of that claim, they move towards various types of philosophical landscapes filled with numerous questions.