John Muir (7) (1810–1882)

John Muir, the Naturalist, founder of Sierra Club, and advocate for wilderness conservation is the image most familiar to readers. However, Muir was also an activist regarding the study of Sanskrit, which he saw as one of the ways to understand the world of human activity, and to appreciate the progression of various cultures.

This 18-page e-book consists of a passionate and eloquent letter Muir wrote in the latter part of the 1800's to the University of Edinburgh, petitioning for the establishment of a Sanskrit Chair for two reasons: (1) From a utilitarian standpoint, to better prepare British officials in administering the civil affairs of "our Indian empire"; and, (2) From a scholastic research standpoint, to augment and enhance the sciences of comparative philology and ethnology.

He presents, as a basis of his arguments, the societal advantages for Western societies (especially the British Isles in the 1800's) to understand the origins of not only the Indian culture but, also, of its own historical and philological development. Muir saw this as an essential key to the furtherance of more productive relations between cultures, for through a study of Sanskrit, the "parent" of all languages in the Indian Subcontinent, an awakening of interest and respect for the people of those cultures would result in their "improvement-physical, moral, and intellectual".

With regard to philology, Muir states that the roots and forms of Sanskrit are of essential importance to the study of comparative philology, particularly because it has a common origin and "close affinity" with Greek and Latin, "which have long been used as the whetstones of the human intellect." He also quotes from other scholars, that from from an ethnological point of view, the study of Sanskrit opens doors into "the origin of the Hindus, cognate European cultures and generally "on the history of mythology, of civilization, and of philosophy".

And, one of the keys for understanding a culture is to know the philological origins of its current and former languages. Muir points out that Latin, Greek, and Sanskrit were originally intimately entwined, and that even to understand the original essence of Western languages, especially one of the original building blocks, Greek, an understanding of Sanskrit is desirable.

Muir demonstrates the same awareness of, and devotion to, the principles of connection and unity of life as he did in his writings on the "wonders"" of nature in the wild. In this writing, though, he is focusing not on outdoor nature, but on aspects of people within a cultural/societal framework, as understood through a history of language.

NOTE: I rate the content of this slim volume as "5"; however, because this was a Google e-book, there were the usual odd letters and symbols that peppered the text in parts. For that I reduce the rating to "4".… (lisätietoja)