Sisir Kumar Maitra (born 19 January 1887, Calcutta, India, died 1963) was Head of the Department of Philosophy and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Banaras Hindu University. His writings compared Eastern and Western philosophy, and the teachings of Sri Aurobindo in comparison with Western philosophers.

Life

Maitra was born into a Brahmin family, and as his father - who served as a Professor of English literature at the Dacca, Presidency and Ravenshaw Colleges - was very liberal in his views on social and religious matters, young Sisir was brought up free from social and religious orthodoxy. Maitra snr was also a great admirer of Rabindranath Tagore, and this was part of the intellectual atmosphere in which Sisir and his siblings lived. In his college days he was for a short time a great admirer of Hegel. His faith in the supremacy of reason was shaken by the philosophy of Henri Bergson, to which he devoted several years of study. Later he discovered Sri Aurobindo, and in a number of books and essays helped popularise the vision of Sri Aurobindo among philosophical circles both in India and abroad, writing strictly from an academic philosophical point of view. The other philosopher who made a large influence on his mature thought was Nicolai Hartmann.

List of books and some articles

Meeting of East and West in Sri Aurobindo's Philosophy

This work is a comprehensive introduction to Sri Aurobindo's philosophy in the context of mainstream academia. In contrast to other students of Sri Aurobindo, Maitra argues that western philosophical thought is essential if one is to understand the voluminous writings of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother.