Universe and Inner Self in Early Indian and Early Greek Thought

Richard Seaford is Emeritus Professor of Ancient Greek at the Univerity of Exeter. He has been a Fellow of the National Humanities Center in North Carolina, Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, and President of the Classical Association (UK). He is the author of numerous articles and books ranging from Homer to the New Testament.

The philosophical traditions of Greece and India are divergent but also show striking convergences. This book is an important and valuable contribution to the comparative study of the two ancient cultures. The various chapters are learned and sophisticated and considerably enrich our understanding of Greek and Indian philosophy.

• Introduction1. The Common Origin Approach to Comparing Indian and Greek Philosophy, Nick Allen2. The concept of ṛtá in the Ṛgveda, Joanna Jurewicz3. Harmonia and Ṛta, Aditi Chaturvedi4, Ātman and its Transition to Worldly Existence, Greg Bailey5. Cosmology, Psyche and Atman in the Timaeus, the Rig Veda and the Upanishads, Hyun Höchsmann6. Plato and Yoga, John Bussanich7. Technologies of Self-immortalisation in Ancient Greece and Early India, Paolo Visigalli8. Does the Concept of theōria Fit the Beginning of Indian Thought?, Alexis Pinchard9. Self or being without boundaries. On Parmenides and Śaṅkara, Chiara Robbiano10. Soul Chariots in Indian and Greek Thought: Polygenesis or Diffusion?, Paolo Magnone11. "Master the chariot, master your Self": Comparing Chariot Metaphors as Hermeneutics for Mind, Self and Liberation in Ancient Greek and Indian Sources, Jens Schlieter12. New Riders, Old Chariots: Poetics and Comparative Philosophy, Alexander S. W. Forte and Caley C. Smith13. The Interiorisation of Ritual in India and Greece, Richard Seaford14. Rebirth and ‘Ethicization’ in Greek and South Asian Thought, Mikel Burley15. On Affirmation, Rejection, and Accommodation of the World in Greek and Indian Religion, Matylda Obryk16. The Justice of the Indians, Richard Stoneman17. Nietzsche on Greek and Indian Philosophy, Emma SyeaBibliography