The Dispute over “karma”: the Cultural Reception of the Indian Concept in Russian Philosophy in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Abstract

The last third of the 19th century saw a widespread dissemination of Indian philosophical concepts in the European cultural area. The concept of “karma” of­fered a significant ethical and ontological alternative to both materialistic philos­ophy and classical theism and attracted special attention of the general public. The article aims to characterize the interpretation of karma in Russian indology and theosophy in the late 19th – early 20th centuries, and to reveal the key simi­larities and differences of its’ comparative methodology. The materials of the Rus­sian buddhologist F.I. Shcherbatskoy and one of the leaders of the theosophical current in Russia E.F. Pisareva represent main cases of the research. F.I. Shcher­batskoy and E.F. Pisareva looked forward to the neovitalistic concepts for justifi­cation of belief in the existence of spiritual evolution depending on internal rather than external factors. Indology and theosophy used European scientific concepts for a cultural translation of Indian philosophical concepts, but applied different bases of evidence (textual analysis and personal experience) and com­parative methodology. Indology sought, as it is seen in the case of F.I. Shcher­batskoy, to unfold the basics of “eternal philosophy” – just like the tradition of intercultural philosophy did – while theosophy believed it had already been revealed in the works of E.P. Blavatsky and applied it as tool of European cul­tural criticism.