ABSTRACT
I T has become somewhat of a commonplace in these days to speak of the ancient Hindus as having achieved distinction in philosophy. But the word ‘philosophy’ is so loosely used and the phases of philosophic investigation are so many and so varied in character that such an opinion, standing by itself, cannot be taken to indicate anything beyond a certain aptitude of the Hindu mind for abstract speculation. A signal illustration of the indefiniteness of this opinion is furnished by Max Müller, the very scholar that was largely responsible for giving currency to the view that the ancient Hindus were highly gifted philosophically; for while he at one time described them as ‘a nation of philosophers’, yet, at another time, gave out as his considered opinion that ‘the idea of the beautiful in Nature did not exist in the Hindu mind.’ 1 The fact is that a vague and general statement like the above is of little practical value unless it is supported by evidence of progress made in the various departments of philosophic study, such as logic, psychology and metaphysics. Here is a vast field for the student of Indian antiquities to labour in and the harvest, if well garnered, will be of advantage not only for the history of Indian thought but also, it may be hoped, for Universal Philosophy. The object of the present paper is to indicate, however slightly it may be, the nature of the advance made by the Indians in one bye-path of philosophy, viz., aesthetics or the inquiry into the character of beauty in Nature as well as in art.
