IMAGE OF INDIAN PHILOSOPHY IN THE WORKS BY BANKIMCHANDRA CHATTOPADDHYAY

The article is a first attempt to reconstruct an image of Indian philosophy created by Indian writer and sociologist Bankimchandra Chattopaddhyay. The goal of the research is to represent the process of turning Indian philosophy into the object of study based on objective idea. The research is based on phe-nomenological approach and hermeneutical method of analysis of the Bengal Renaissance texts. As a result, the image by Bankimchandra Chattopaddhyay is reconstructed as enlightening notion on history and content of Indian thought in the World philosophy context. It represents differences in goal-setting and content of In-dian philosophy - it sets a goal of knowledge acquiring for high spiritual ends and cultivates human’s passive relation to the world, society and his own life. Bankimchandra Chattopaddhyay established general approach to Indian philosophy as a specific tradition embodying universal search for the truth, but aimed at acquiring knowledge for the high goal of liberation from suffering rather than production of useful knowledge for society.