The Political Institutions and Theories of the Hindus: A Study in Comparative Politics c6.s2.15

c6.s2.15

The scientific method consists in proceeding from the known to the unknown. Students of comparative politics ought to approach the political literature and institutions of Asia with a full knowledge of this tradition of despotism in European history. It is as unjust to compare ancient and mediaeval Asia i. e., the Asia of the Asians, with the Europe and America of the twentieth century, as to compare the latter with the Occident previous to the “industrial revolution”. Unbiased investigators will find in Asian history the same struggles and tribulations through which European humanity has passed. It is impossible to mention a single institution or ideal in the Occident for which a parallel or replica is not to be found in the Orient. And no political weakness can be cited in Asia of which there is no double in Eur-America. But in order to avoid superficial analogies² what is required of scholars is: first, to practise scientific detachment from the conditions of life in which they are living today; secondly, to master the actual facts of political development and speculation in Asia; and thirdly, to place them in the perspective of occidental *Realpolitik* and “pious wish”, epoch by epoch, area by area, and item by item.