IN MEMORIAM

WILHELM HALBFASS 1940–2000

To the profound regret of philosophers and Indologists everywhere,

Wilhelm Halbfass passed away suddenly of a stroke on May 25th. Let
us remember and honor this wonderful scholar.
Wilhelm Halbfass was born in Northeim, Germany. He received
his Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Göttingen, where he also
studied Indology (under Ernst Waldschmidt) and classics as Nebenfächer.
His first academic appointment was as Wissenschaftlicher Assistent
in the Seminar for Indology and Buddhist Studies at Göttingen, from
1966–1970. Thereafter, from 1970–1982, he was first Assistant, then
Associate Professor of Philosophy at Brock University, St. Catherines,
Ontario. In 1982 he became Professor of Indian Philosophy in the
Departments of Oriental Studies and South Asia Regional Studies of
the University of Pennsylvania. In the course of his career he held many
visiting appointments and gave talks and lectures at universities and
conferences throughout the world. There are very few people in the
field who did not have an opportunity to get to know this learned and
congenial man.
Prof. Halbfass’s contribution to his discipline was immense; it will
take decades for it to be fully appreciated. With his monographs, Zur
Theorie der Kastenordnung in der indischen Philosophie and Studies in
Kumārila and Sānkara (both of which were included, in revised form,
together with other essays in Tradition and Reflection [SUNY, 1991])
he thoroughly reshaped our understanding of the orthodox schools
of Mı̄mām. sā and Advaita Vedānta, in particular, by placing proper
emphasis on their ethical and social dimensions for the first time. His
book on Vaiśes. ika (On Being and What There Is: Classical Vaiśes. ika
and the History of Indian Ontology [SUNY, 1992]), together with
the series of seminal articles leading up to it, gave us an invaluable,
indeed unsurpassable, account of “the conceptualization of being” in
another important school of Indian thought. India and Europe (in its
English and German editions) – perhaps the most widely read book
by an Indologist – gave us a luminous picture of the dynamics of the
Indian, as well as the European, mind in the context of their mutual

Journal of Indian Philosophy 28: 425–427, 2000.

c 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
426 IN MEMORIAM

encounter. (It would be futile and inappropriate to attempt to review

his numerous publications here; a comprehensive bibliography through
1996 is to be found in the volume of essays devoted to assessing his
work, Beyond Orientalism, edited by Eli Franco and Karin Preisendanz
[Poznan Studies, vol. 59].)
Although Prof. Halbfass was one of the leading Indologists of his
generation, he was in my view first and foremost a philosopher. As such,
his chief accomplishment was to show, perhaps more successfully than
anyone yet, how philosophical theories are embedded in and inseparable
from – indeed, how they derive their meaning and even their validity
from – their historical and cultural contexts. Various notable thinkers
of the twentieth century have suggested that this is the case and have
gone part of the way toward demonstrating it; none, I believe, has done
so with the same rigour and comprehensiveness as Halbfass has for
Indian philosophy. Yet his achievement extends beyond what merely
concerns the Indian case; for in the profundity of its particularity, Indian
philosophy is akin to everything. He was able to achieve this because
he combined great philosophical acumen and depth with erudition of a
Hegelian order. Moreover, he was able to present his ideas in an elegant
and entertaining style, usually in a language that was not his mother
tongue. (Of other German Indologists, only Paul Hacker can compare
with him as an English stylist.) People who read his works not only
benefit from the insights they contain; they also greatly enjoy them and
are even inspired by them.
A sage once said that the accomplishments of a great man are based
on the purity of his life. Those who knew Prof. Halbfass closely saw the
verification of this principle. He was kind, generous, gentle, and jovial.
As a teacher at the University of Pennsylvania he was very popular,
even beloved. Although he could be tenacious in debate, he engendered
no ill feelings in his colleagues. He loved good conversation – for his
memory was vast and infallible, his interests unlimited – and always
seemed to have time for other people. Many younger scholars benefitted
from his assistance and support.
Perhaps everyone who knew him has a “Halbfass story.” My own
stems from the time he was a visiting professor, in the spring of 1994,
at the University of New Mexico. He was to give a course on Indian
ethical thought in the General Honors Program, but the Philosophy
Department would be his host. I was concerned that my colleagues,
some of them tough-minded “analytic” types, would not be able to
fully appreciate him, their interests being so far from his. It turned out
that I had completely underestimated both Wilhelm and my colleagues
 IN MEMORIAM 427

– they got along famously. The catalyst for their connection was a
certain golden beverage of which they all happened to be connoisseurs.
Every Friday afternoon for three months, at Happy Hour, my colleagues
enjoyed conversing with the most interesting person they had ever met.
Before leaving, Wilhelm gave a lecture on the idea of happiness in
classical Indian philosophy that was greatly admired. To this day the
UMN Philosophy Department fondly remembers his visit.
We mourn the tragic loss of a great philosopher, scholar, and friend.
However, we also feel fortunate to have known him and to have his
works.

John Taber
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico