Abstract

A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF ATMAN AS PER WESTERN DOCTRINES A COMPARATIVE TEXTUAL RE-EVALUATION OF SOUL, MIND, SUBJECTIVITY, AND MATERIALITY IN CONTRAST TO EASTERN METAPHYSICS

Hrishikesh Gaitonde*, Hitendra Gohel

ABSTRACT

Background: The problem of the self constitutes one of the most enduring inquiries across global intellectual history. While the Indian tradition crystallizes this concern in the foundational doctrine of Ātman—an inward, conscious, and liberating principle inextricably bound to karma, reincarnation, moral responsibility, and mokṣa—Western philosophy has navigated an extensive historical trajectory from cosmological soul to thinking mind, transcendental subjectivity, historical consciousness, and dialectical materiality. Objective: This study presents a rigorous critical analysis of Western doctrines of soul, self, and consciousness from classical Greek thought to Marxist materialism, systematically evaluating their convergences, structural ruptures, and conceptual limitations when contrasted with the Eastern paradigm of Ātman. Methodology: Employing a qualitative, textual, and hermeneutical comparative methodology, the paper examines key Western formulations—including Pre-Socratic vitalism,Platonic dualism, Aristotelian hylomorphism, medieval Christian scholasticism (Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas), early modern rationalism (Descartes, Spinoza, Leibniz), British empiricism (Locke, Berkeley, Hume), Kantian transcendentalism, and modern sociomaterial critiques (Hegel, Marx)—strictly against the textual framework of classical Eastern sources. Key Findings: The analysis demonstrates that Western thought, while achieving unparalleled analytical, logical, and sociopolitical frameworks, experienced a progressive secularization and fragmentation of the self. By gradually supplanting the immortal soul with the functional mind, psychological memory, the transcendental ego, and ultimately socio-economic relations, modern Western philosophy severed the conscious principle from its soteriological and therapeutic foundations. Conclusion: In contrast to the Western tendency to conflate consciousness with mental activity or socio-material conditioning, Eastern doctrines—particularly Advaita Vedānta, Sāṁkhya-Yoga, and classical Āyurveda—preserve a stratified anthropology that strictly distinguishes between changing cognitive instruments and the unchanging witness-consciousness. Consequently, the Eastern conception of Ātman offers a necessary, non-reductive corrective to contemporary Western dilemmas regarding subjective consciousness, psychosomatic wellbeing, and existential fragmentation.

Keywords: ?tman; Western Philosophy; Psyche; Res Cogitans; Transcendent Witness; Mind-Body Problem; Consciousness; Soteriology.