[Advaita-l] wilhelm halbfass

[Stig Lundgren]

Dear Shrisha Rao,


You wrote:
"I don't think Indology is particularly scientific; in fact, one of the
frequent responses made by Indologists to objections to their style of
study by Indians is that those whose training is in the sciences
(which is true of most educated Indians) cannot understand the methods
and conclusions of Indology!  There are any number of postings on the
Indology list saying this.  Indologists swear allegiance instead to
philology, which in its proper sense means they claim support from
historical linguistics"


My reply:
I completely agree with you. When I mentioned about the scientific claims among indologists, I meant science in a much more broader sense, more like methods of academical research in contrast to methods of scriptual learning among traditional hindu pandits. Indologists don´t refer to their own work as "scientific" in the sense of methods of natural science.


You wrote:
"I have not heard this about Glasenapp, but it is true of the late Jan
Gonda (cf. the obituary of Gonda that appeared in the BORI journal)."


My reply:
Yes, I´m sure you are correct here. Obviously it was Gonda, not Glasenapp. 


Warmest regards
Stig Lundgren