Wilhelm Halbfass’s Comparative Philosophy

Abstract

The German-American Indologist Wilhelm Halbfass (1940–2000) is known as a researcher of Indian culture and philosophy, but his views on the possibilities of comparative studies of philosophy remain underexplored. Meanwhile, the very possibility of comparative study of philosophical systems formed in different cultures requires the analysis of terminology used in these cultures for raising and discussing existential problems. This was the task set by W. Halbfass. The purpose of this research is to demonstrate the essence and essential traits of W. Halbfass’s methodology for comparative studies in philosophy. The basis of his method was shown to be an analysis of the practical context of basic terms denoting certain aspects of cultural and existential experience of an individual shaped by one or another culture. In particular, Indian culture is characterised by a strict hierarchy, so that the structure of the philosophical systems of ancient and medieval India is isomorphic to that of traditional Indian society with its system of varṇas (social strata) and āśramas (stages of a person’s life). Indian xenology (strategies of perception and evaluation of other cultures and peoples) is based on this principle: anyone who is outside the system of varṇas and āśramas is not considered fully human and is therefore ignored. Besides, the study shows the importance of H.-G. Gadamer’s philosophical hermeneutics methodology for comparative philosophy studies, revealing the possibilities of a hermeneutic approach to the analysis of texts created in non-European cultures.