Paul Jakob Deussen (German: [ˈpaʊl ˈjaːkop
ˈdɔʏsən]; 7 January 1845 – 6 July 1919)
was a German Indologist and professor of Philosophy
at University of Kiel.
Strongly influenced by Arthur Schopenhauer,
Deussen was a friend of Friedrich Nietzsche
and Swami Vivekananda.
In 1911, he founded the Schopenhauer Society
(Schopenhauer-Gesellschaft).
Professor Deussen was the first editor, in
1912, of the scholarly journal Schopenhauer
Yearbook (Schopenhauer-Jahrbuch).
Deussen, who Sanskritised his name to "Deva-Sena"
as a mark of his admiration for Hinduism,
is one of the distinguished roll of Europeans
who — often with lyrical admiration — participated
in the scholarly Western discovery of Sanskrit
and Hinduism that took place in British India
itself, Germany, France and England.
== Biography ==
Paul Deussen was born in 1845 in Oberdreis
in the Rhine Province, one of eight children
of a clergyman of modest means.
He became a student, and lifelong devotee,
of the German philosopher Schopenhauer, and
of the philosophy of Kant; and he became a
friend of Friedrich Nietzsche.
Deussen was educated at Bonn, Tübingen and
Berlin Universities between 1864 and 1881,
writing his dissertation on Plato’s philosophy.
Deussen was appointed Privatdocent (1881-7)
and Extraordinarius (1887-9) at the university
of Berlin, and Ordinarius (1889–1919, the
year of his death), at the University of Kiel.
Until 1919, Deussen continued to edit the
Schopenhauer Yearbook, as well as working
on an edition of Schopenhauer’s works.
It was when he attended a lecture by Professor
Lassen expounding the Shakuntala that Deussen
was fired by Sanskrit and Hinduism.
His first publication in 1877 was published
in English as The Elements of Metaphysics
in 1894.
It was followed by the translations of The
Sutra of the Vedanta in 1906; The Philosophy
of the Upanishads also in 1906; and The System
of the Vedanta in 1912.
His visit to India in 1904 was published in
English as My Indian Reminiscences in 1912.
However, his autobiographical papers, edited
by his widow Erica and published in German
in 1922, have not so far been translated into
English.
Deussen’s System of the Vedanta has been
reprinted several times: he uses the Brahmasutra
and – rather less — Adi Shankara’s commentary
on it, as the structure for his exposition.
Some critics believe that Deussen’s lifelong
admiration for Schopenhauer — as greater
even than Kant — coloured his vision of
Hinduism and gave it a noumenal, Christian
ethos; however his scholarship is immense,
perceptive, and meticulous.
Mahinder Gulati refers to him as an Orientalist
and Sanskrit scholar.Paul Deussen’s name
is thus linked with George Boucher, Sir William
Jones and Sir John Woodroffe in British India,
Anquetil-Duperron and Eugène Burnouf in France,
Heinrich Roth, Franz Bopp, Friedrich von Schlegel
and Max Müller in Germany, in the European
revelation of the wealth of Hinduism as revealed
by Sanskrit documents.
== Works ==
Die Elemente der Metaphysik (1877) - "nebst
einer Vorbetrachtung über das Wesen des Idealismus"
- 6.
Auflage (1919)
Das System des Vedânta.
Nach den Brahma-Sûtra's des Bâdarâyana
und dem Commentare des Çankara über dieselben
als ein Compendium der Dogmatik des Brahmanismus
vom Standpunkte des Çankara aus (1883)
Die Sûtra's des Vedânta oder die Çariraka-Mimansa
des Badarayana nebst einem vollständigen
Kommentare des Çankara.
Aus dem Sanskrit übersetzt (1887)
Allgemeine Geschichte der Philosophie unter
besonderer Berücksichtigung der Religionen
(1894ff.):
Band I, Teil 1: Allgemeine Einleitung und
Philosophie des Veda bis auf die Upanishad's
(1894)
Band I, Teil 2: Die Philosophie der Upanishad's
(1898)
Band I, Teil 3: Die nachvedische Philosophie
der Inder (1908)
Band II, Teil 1: Die Philosophie der Griechen
(1911)
Band II, Teil 2,1: Die Philosophie der Bibel
(1913)
Band II, Teil 2,2: Die Philosophie des Mittelalters
(1915)
Band II, Teil 3: Die neuere Philosophie von
Descartes bis Schopenhauer (1917)
Sechzig Upanishad's des Veda (1897)
Erinnerungen an Friedrich Nietzsche (1901)
Erinnerungen an Indien (1904)
Vedânta und Platonismus im Lichte der Kantischen
Philosophie (1904)
Outlines of Indian philosophy, with an appendix:
On the philosophy of the Vedânta in its relations
to Occidental metaphysics (1907)
Vedânta, Platon und Kant (1917)
Mein Leben (1922)
== Reception ==
Deussen has been called an "outstanding scholar",
a "great scholar" who spearheaded study of
the Upanishads and Vedic literature, and as
a "critical scholar".
== References ==
== External links ==
Vivekananda on Paul Deussen
"Deussen, Paul".
New International Encyclopedia.
1905.
