ABSTRACT
As has been indicated earlier, it is possible to show roughly why the various *viewpoints and schools of Indian metaphysics assumed the shapes that they did. It is often the case that a metaphysical system is a coherent elaboration of a single main thesis, or of some few central theses. From a cluster of insights (or supposed insights) a whole set of doctrines is excogitated. In the case of Indian philosophy, with its powerful connection with religion, it is necessary to look for the determining religious motivation behind the various *viewpoints. This, as we shall see, does not quite work in every case—especially *Logic-Atomism—but it works in a sufficient number to justify the procedure. It needs to be remembered, too, that Indian philosophy is on the whole markedly traditional. That is, the roots of the different *viewpoints and schools usually go back a very long way, sometimes to disappear into the recesses of unknown antiquity. Consequently, the shape of a system is often determined, so far as we can see, by factors other than those of speculative inquiry. This is a further reason why there is a need to consider the systems in relation to underlying religious intuitions which, more often than not, they express.
