Philosophical anthropology in the enciclopaedias of sanskrit medicine

Authors

  • Juan Arnau Navarro CSIC; Universidad Europea de Valencia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5944/endoxa.32.2013.5645

Keywords:

Ayurveda, Caraka, Vāgbhata, sāmkhya, embriology,

Abstract

This article discusses the conception of the human being using the Classical Sanskrit compendiums of medicine of Caraka (2nd century) and Vāgbhata (7th century) as primary sources. These encyclopaedias combine two types of perspectives: the medical point of view and philosophical backgrounds from Sāmkhya School, one of the six orthodox philosophical systems of Brahmanism. The paper analyses the various conceptions about the conception of the embryo, the inheritance of the father and the mother, phases and care of pregnancy and the bicardiac state. These conceptions are contrasted with Brahmanic philosophical backgrounds underlying medical knowledge: the relationships between the individual and the natural world, the seat of the mind, the nature of consciousness and the subtlebody and the relationships between health and attitudes of the body, speech and mind.

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Author Biography

Juan Arnau Navarro, CSIC; Universidad Europea de Valencia

Juan Arnau Navarro (Valencia, 1968) es licenciado en Astrofísica por la UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID y doctor en filosofía sánscrita por EL COLEGIO DE MÉXICO A.C. Durante el sexenio 2000-2006 desarrolló su investigación postdoctoral en la UNIVERSIDAD DE MICHIGAN. Ha impartido cursos sobre en pensamiento filosófico de India en la UNIVERSIDAD DE BARCELONA y desde 2008 es Investigador Ramón y Cajal al INSTITUTO DE HISTORIA DE LA MEDICINA Y DE LA CIENCIA LOPEZ PIÑERO de Valencia.

Entre sus libros se encuentran las ediciones críticas (traducidas del sánscrito) de los dos principales tratados filosóficos de Nagarjuna: Fundamentos de la vía media (Ediciones Siruela 2004), y Abandono de la discusión, (Ediciones Siruela 2006).

Y los ensayos: La palabra frente al vacío (Fondo de Cultura Económica 2005), un estudio crítico de la filosofía de Nagarjuna a la luz del pensamiento contemporáneo. Antropología del budismo (Kairós, 2007). Rendir el sentido. Filosofía y traducción (Pre-Textos 2008). Arte de probar. Ironía y lógica en India antigua (Fondo de Cultura Económica 2008), Elogio del asombro (Pre-Textos 2010), Vasubandhu (Pre-textos 2010), Leyenda de Buda (Alianza, 2011), Cosmologías de India (Fondo de Cultura Económica 2012) y El cristal Spinoza (Pre-Textos 2012).

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Published

2013-12-16

How to Cite

Arnau Navarro, J. (2013). Philosophical anthropology in the enciclopaedias of sanskrit medicine. ENDOXA, 1(32), 11–32. https://doi.org/10.5944/endoxa.32.2013.5645

Issue

No. 32 (2013)

Section

Papers and Texts

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