Ancient Indian Schools of Philosophy
Introduction Indian Philosophy (or, in Sankrit, Darshanas ), refers to any of several traditions of philosophical thought that originated in the Indian subcontinent , including Hindu philosophy , Buddhist philosophy , and Jain philosophy (see below for brief introductions to these schools). It is considered by Indian thinkers to be a practical discipline , and its goal should always be to improve human life . Orthodox (Hindu) Schools The main Hindu orthodox ( astika ) schools of Indian philosophy are those codified during the medieval period of Brahmanic-Sanskritic scholasticism , and they take the ancient Vedas (the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism) as their source and scriptural authority: Vaisheshika : The Vaisheshika school was founded by Kanada in the 6th Century B.C. , and it is atomist and pluralist in nature. The basis of the school's philosoph...