Histoire des études indiennes: Sylvain Lévi et l'idée de l'humanisme
History of Indian Studies: Sylvain Lévi and the Idea of Humanism

Summary/Abstract: Sylvain LÉVI, one of the most eminent Indologists of the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, left the mark of his talents on the development of Oriental Studies. Philologist, historian, humanist, his life work was extremely varied. The volume entitled Memorial Sylvain Lévi which was published after his death contains among others texts an excellent article by his pupil L. RENOU which passes in review the contributions of Sylvain LÉVI to many different fields of study: Sanskrit, the art of Sanskrit playwrights, history of religions, studies on Indian history and especially the history of Nepal and its religions, on Buddhism philosophy. The present article – previous a conference at Société Asiatique, Paris - will concentrate on an aspect of his work, which is perhaps less well known: his vision of humanism. According to him, humanism must take into account the diversity of human societies: each society has its own cultural traits. Each people create its own civilization but foreign influences play a major role in the creation of a civilization. The article will focus on the differences pointed out by S. LÉVI between Eastern Humanism and Western Humanism.

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