Brhaspati
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History of Materialism in India
World-renowned Indologist Fyodor Shcherbatskoy explores ancient Indian materialism. He analyzes how schools like Cārvāka and Lokāyata rejected karma and transcendental souls, showing how their radical emphasis on physical reality, empirical observation, and political realism shaped the broader trajectory of Indian philosophical thought.
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The Materialism
In this excerpt from History of Indian Philosophy, Austrian Indologist Erich Frauwallner explores ancient Indian materialism. He demonstrates how Cārvāka and Lokāyata thinkers prioritized a negative critique—rejecting karma, afterlife, and ritualism—and highlights their early connection to statecraft and political realism embodied by thinkers like Kauṭilya and King Paesi.