While the historical, social and literary dimensions of Sikhism have been much appreciated, its philosophical dimension has not received the same measure of attention. This book attempts to highlight dimensions of Sikh thought with regard to time-honoured issues in the philosophy of religion, such as arguments for the existence of God, the problem of evil, and so on. It is also an attempt to contextualise the Western philosophy of religion in an Indian matrix. Previous works by the author on this topic have covered Indic thought during the ancient and modern periods of Indian history, leaving a gap so far as the medieval period was concerned. This study of Sikhism is a modest effort to close that gap.
Formerly of the IAS, Arvind Sharma is currently the Birks Professor of Comparative Religion in the Faculty of Religious Studies at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. He has also taught in Australia and the United States. His other works include: A Hindu Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion (1991), The Philosophy of Religion and Advaita Vedanta A Study in Religion and Reason (1995), The Philosophy of Religion. A Buddhist Perspective (1995), A Jaina Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion (2001) and A Primal Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion (2006)
SIKHISM IS NOT ONLY THE YOUNGEST BUT PERHAPS ALSO THE MOST vigourous member of the Indic religious tradition. Along with Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism which it succeeds, it comprises the four constituent members (caturdharmya) of this tradition and serves as a reminder that its creative potential is far from exhausted. It flourishes in this flower-bed, watered by the sacred springs from India and beyond, displaying once again the floral novelty of the seed ideas of the Indic religious tradition.
Early in the 1990s I set for myself the task of attempting to deprovincialize the Western philosophy of religion, by contextualizing it in an Indic matrix. I took the Philosophy of Religion by John Hick, which presents the central issues canvassed within the Western philosophy of religion with such clarity and charity, as my guide and used it to con-template Hindu, Advaitic, Buddhist and Jaina thought. This effort led to the appearance of the following books: A Hindu Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion (1991); The Philosophy of Religion and Advaita Vedanta: A Study in Religion and Reason (1995); The Philosophy of Religion: A Buddhist Perspective (1995) and A Jaina Perspective on the Philosophy of Religion (2001).
The study of Sikhism from a similar perspective marks the culmination as well as the end of this intellectual enterprise. The previous works, by their very nature, covered Indic thought during the ancient and modern periods of India's history, leaving a gap so far as the medieval period was concerned.
Life in the West was ideologically dominated by Christianity during the middle ages, so that even when the hold of Christianity began to loosen, the Christian framework continued to influence the prevailing intellectual agenda. When the West first felt the stirrings of modernity from around the sixteenth century onwards, philosophizing took the form of the "philosophical" defense of religious convictions. This seemed to follow naturally from the earlier role of reason in preparing the ground for the reception of revelation. Such activity was called "natural theology". In this sense, natural theology referred to those theological insights which could be reached by reason alone, such as the conclusion that the world logically points to a God who created it. But the further theological insight that such a God involved three "persons" (or the doctrine of the Trinity) was not a conclusion which could be reached by reason alone, and was accessible only through revelation--hence the need for "revealed theology". When reason, however, came to be employed on its own independently of theology, such reasoning gained the status of philosophy, as it became independent of Christian theology. But to the extent that it did not become independent of religion in general, it was free to "engage in the philosophical defense of religious beliefs"? This form of intellectual activity is often referred to as "apologetics" Then came a stage when the relationship of reason, earlier closely associated with Christian revelation, and subsequently with religion in general, moved beyond any attempt to serve either Christian theology. or religious belief in general, and took on the task of critically addressing and analyzing them. One notices here a general movement from "natural theology" and then "apologetics", to what might be called the "philosophy of religion". The term "philosophy of religion" should therefore be distinguished from "natural theology" and "apologetics" The program of natural theology was, and is, "to demonstrate rationally the existence of God, thus preparing the way for the claims of revelation" The program of apologetics involves the "philosophical defense of religious beliefs" The program of theology involves "the systematic formulation of religious beliefs" But "philosophy of religion". although it can be brought in relation to these various forms of intellectual activity, stands apart from them and means "philosophical thinking about religion" This invites the question: what is philosophy?
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