Introduction to the Study of the Hindu Doctrines, Volume 1

Preliminary Considerations

Our first task in the study we are undertaking is to determine the exact nature of the opposition between East and West. To do so, we must begin by defining the meaning we intend to attach to the two terms of this opposition. As a perhaps somewhat cursory first approximation, we might say that for us the East is essentially Asia and the West essentially Europe; but even this requires some explanation.

For example, when we speak interchangeably of the Western or European mentality, we mean the mentality proper to the European race taken as a whole. We shall therefore call European everything connected with this race, and apply this common designation to all individuals descended from it, wherever in the world they may be: thus Americans and Australians, to mention only these, are for us Europeans on exactly the same footing as men of the same race who have continued to live in Europe. It is indeed quite evident that moving to another region, or even being born there, cannot in itself alter the race or, consequently, the mentality inherent in it. Even if a change of environment may sooner or later bring about certain modifications, these will be of only secondary importance: they will not affect the truly essential characteristics of the race but will sometimes, on the contrary, bring some of them out more distinctly. Thus one can readily observe among Americans an extreme development of certain tendencies constitutive of the modern European mentality.