The nature of consciousness between East and modern West

Abstract

Any contemporary discussion about how philosophers imagine the nature of consciousness is impossible without taking into account Eastern philosophical traditions and, first ofall, Indian philosophy, in which there were many interesting ideas, approaches and practices that in one way or another resonate with the problems facing Western philosophy today. The participants of the latestRejoinders seminar reunionexplored the similarities and differencesin the philosophical understanding of the problem of consciousness between Western and Indian cultures. In a brief survey of the concepts of consciousness that have gained prominence in Western philosophy, David Dubrovsky pointed out the significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge about consciousness made in the areas of study concerned with subjective reality and the inner world of individual, such as existentialism, phenomenology, philosophical anthropology, psychology, and others. He then gave a short outline of his own concept of subjective reality. Victoria Lysenko observed that the distinctive characteristic of Indian philosophical tradition is to approach the problem of consciousness from the standpoint of the subject, 'from first person perspective', as opposed to the Western claim of'objectivity'in understanding consciousness. She also noted the parallels betweenthe view of subjective reality suggested by Dubrovsky and that present in Buddhist thinking.