Inclusivism as a Сonceptual Means in the Works by Paul Hacker and Gerhard Oberhammer

Abstract

The concept of inclusivism was introduced by German indologist Paul Hacker (1913–1979) to designate a specific polemical strategy characteristic to Indian religious teachings. Inclusivism is described as adoptiong the views of alien reli­gious groups and including them in the own doctrine at a hierarchically subordi­nate place. In Hacker’s view, inclusivism is an intellectual practice widely used in the rivalry between different religious traditions in India, and as such it should be distinguished from European tolerance. In recent forty years the concept of inclusivism has been widely discussed and criticized. Gerhard Oberhammer, in particular, objected against interpreting inclusivism as a social strategy. In the context of his doctrine of transcendental hermeneutics, he considered inclu­sivism to be a normative way in which many Indian religious traditions devel­oped their canons of scripture. In this paper I analyze the concept of inclusivism in the works of Hacker and Oberhammer and discuss its’ outlook in contempo­rary indological studies. A broad interpretation of inclusivism as an implicit tex­tual strategy characteristic to intellectual traditions at different periods of Indian history makes this concept a promising tool for a study of Indian philosophy and Indian culture.