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Philosophy in this set of two volumes is a cognitive activity par excellence. Cognition is that the language expresses and it reveals intelligible objects/beings of language and the meaning to which our philosophical reflections, investigations, analysis and interpretation are not only based on but are confined to. The work is fit for satisfying the intellectual hunger of those who are sick of reading the same metaphysical, ontological, theological and epistemological descriptions in different books of history of philosophy, Indian and Western, to those searching a philosophy free from our captive thinking and also an innovative vision to meet out the new challenges in philosophy. Concentrating on cognition as it flashes by language the book analyses, discusses, interprets and critically argues most of the philosophical issues and their responses by Indian and Western philosophical traditions well conclusively.
Unlike linguistic and analytic philosophies, the book is a philosophy of language. Unlike meaning-centric philosophies popular in the East and West, the language-centric approach of the book is based on the expressive nature of language. Based on cognition as it flashes, on active theory of knowledge and action-oriented view of language and its meaning, it reflects on problems, doubts, paradoxes and queries for clarity and resolve, and on that basis, utility and future of philosophy as well.
Against philosophy as subjective and objective thinking, it is a cognitive reflection par excellence. These volumes cover the courses of philosophy prescribed in the universities and colleges useful for scholars and students and those who want a fresh perception to come up with the new challenges in philosophy.
This is an annotated English translation of Vijñānabhikṣu’s commentaries on the first five Brahmasūtra (BS) of Bādarāyaṇa called the Vijñānāmṛtabhāṣya (VijBh). This is a pioneering work as no translation of the VijBh has been done so far. Bhikṣu is perhaps the only known Vedānta scholar who has argued for Brahman along with his prakṛti-śakti being the cause of the world. He calls his Advaita philosophy as Avibhāga-Advaita and sets himself against Śaṅkara’s Advaita which argues for Brahman alone being the material and efficient cause of the world. Bhikṣu is also an unique Advaita scholar as he interprets Vedānta using Sāṁkhya/Yoga principles. One of the reasons for choosing to comment on only the first five sūtras was because the VijBh is a huge work and also because Bhikṣu’s Avibhāga-Advaita can easily be understood from his commentaries on these first five sūtras of the BS. Even though the real reason for Bhikṣu’s commentary on the fifth sūtra (BS I.1.5) should be clear to anyone familiar with Vedānta’s objection to prakṛti being the cause of the world, it needed to be seen as to how Bhikṣu, as a committed Sāṁkhya-Yoga-Vedāntācārya, defends prakṛti’s role in being the cause. Just as writing commentaries on the first four sūtras of Śaṅkara’s BSBh done by some eminent scholars present the main features of Śaṅkara’s Advaita, the commentaries on the first five sūtras of the BS by Bhikṣu could adequately present Bhikṣu’s Avibhāga-Advaita Vedānta.
This volume discusses the different conceptions of the self and considers responses to many a question associated with the idea of the self, and on the destiny of the self in the context of karma, dharma, death and rebirth. It also deliberates on how a Hindu would realize the fullest to total potential and purpose of the self.
There is a variety of competing ideas about the nature of self in the Hindu tradition. Efforts to bring them together under a unitary conception were underway for many centuries. Much of the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Oriental scholarship and the latter-day popularist movements made considerable effort to obscure the complexity and diversity of the idea of the self and its horizon in the broad spectrum of Hindu beliefs.
This modest study discusses the different conceptions of the self, and answers questions such as what is the self? and where does the self come from? How does the personal self retain its identity over time and space? In answering these questions it draws from the Vedic texts, Upanishads and the Vedanta system, especially Advaita (non-dualism). It also looks at the Samkhya system and its radically different conception of the self, which varies considerably from that of Upanishadic formulation. Buddhist and latter-day criticisms of the Hindu positions on the self via the neo-self theory are discussed.
The book also addresses questions such as what happens to the self, what does it do? where does it go? and where ought it go? discussing fate or destiny of the self in the context of karma, dharma, death and rebirth. Issues such as ends or goals towards which a person has to strive, realizing the fullest potential and purpose of the self, are well deliberated upon. Shankaras concept of the self and critique of the non-self are also examined.
The present work, reflects and deliberates over recent Indian scholarship in philosophy. It makes an attempt to analyse the philosophies of outstanding philosophers such as K.C. Bhattacharyya, S. Radhakrishnan, R.D. Ranade, A.C. Mukerji, T.R.V. Murti, N.K. Devraja, J.L. Mehta, J.N. Mohanty, Daya Krishna and S.L. Pandey.
The present work, Indian Philosophers of the Recent Past, reflects and deliberates over recent Indian scholarship in philosophy. It is to get the present and future generations of philosopher-scholars acquainted with the rich Indian philosophical heritage. This is going to deepen our insights into the nature of philosophical consciousness and into the act of philosophizing.
It makes an attempt to analyse the philosophies of outstanding philosophers such as K.C. Bhattacharyya, S. Radhakrishnan, R.D. Ranade, A.C. Mukerji, T.R.V. Murti, N.K. Devraja, J.L. Mehta, J.N. Mohanty, Daya Krishna and S.L. Pandey. The post-Independent Indian philosophy is said to have unique tendencies and trends; some of them can be easily identified as existentialist and phenomenological, idealistic, realistic, humanistic, linguistic and analytico-philosophical comparative philosophy and Indian defence of metaphysics.
The volume is unique in its conceptual clarity, lucid expression, systematic presentation and critical exposition of the subject matter. It is undoubtedly a valuable contribution for the seekers of Indian philosophical system which should evoke keen interest among scholars and students of philosophy.
The title of the book Indian Philosophical Wisdom: Some Glimpses itself signifies its importance. Indeed, philosophy is involved in every sphere of human life — literature, creative art, culture, etc. The author in her zeal to unravel the precious accumulated wisdom of Indian philosophy delved in its treasure with different approaches — historical, analytical, comparative, etc. An attempt has been made in this book to expound Indian philosophical systems and to analyse critically their logical implications.
The title of the book Indian Philosophical Wisdom: Some Glimpses itself signifies its importance. Indeed, philosophy is involved in every sphere of human life — literature, creative art, culture, etc. The author in her zeal to unravel the precious accumulated wisdom of Indian philosophy delved in its treasure with different approaches — historical, analytical, comparative, etc. An attempt has been made in this book to expound Indian philosophical systems and to analyse critically their logical implications.
This work consists of twenty-seven articles both unpublished and published in journals and from different academic forums aimed towards making a documentation of discussions on various systems of Indian philosophy, Upaniṣadic and Yoga philosophy in particular. This could be a ready reckoner on the subject for young and enterprising students and scholars who possess innate inquisitiveness to unearth the sagacity enshrined in Indian philosophy.
In the context of current knowledge situation, when every discipline has something to contribute to interdisciplinarity, it seems quite apposite and opportune that philosophy should reinforce and reassert its traditionally cherished role of integrating human knowledge. The Book at hand is an attempt to that end. It is set to take the readers on an enthralling journey across disciplinary boundaries and inspire them to reach a comprehensive conceptual framework for human knowledge at large.
The book delves into the idea and the philosophy of interdisciplinarity, and then unravels the genealogy, dynamics, and myriad configurations of the highly complex phenomenon. It goes on to assess impact, advantages and critical issues involved in interdisciplinarity, while outlining an Indian view of it. The book, thus, explores the conceptual connections, fundamental issues and intrinsic implications of a myriad variety of interdisciplinary study and research, within and beyond academia. The book also attempts to develop necessary theoretical perspectives and a broader conceptual framework in this connection. Ultimately, it seeks to reach, as far as possible, a systematic conceptual account of varied and variegated interdisciplinary studies and researches by integrating them philosophically.
The present work is thus, intended for a wider audience, and not only for the practitioners of philosophy as an academic discipline. It is a must read across the intellectual spectrum, regardless of one’s disciplinary affinities and affiliations. It is wide-ranging in its concerns, far-reaching in implications, and highly resourceful and relevant for generalists as well as specialists, scholars and scientists, researchers and curriculum developers, educational administrators and policy-makers.
Jadavpur Journal of Philosophy is a refereed, bi-issue journal, in English (No. 1) and Bengali (No. 2) published annually by the Department of Philosophy, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. The journal volume in Bengali is titled Darsan Biksa. The journal is devoted to the publication of original scholarly papers in any branch of philosophy. Its objective is to encourage contributions from scholars, dealing with specific philosophical problems connected with their respective fields of specialization.
This book proposes to take up the question of Universal Causation to examine thoroughly as how far it is right to regard Brahman as the Universal Cause and how far strakra himself lent his support to each of the inter-conflicting schools of Vednta. This book should, therefore, benefit all who are devoted to the philosophic teachings of Advaita Vednta and its preceptors.
The Krama School of the Trika Saivism of Kashmir, more familiar as Kalikrama in the contemporary parlance, has turned out to be the most crucial among the monistic Saiva traditions of medieval Kashmir after the Pratyabhijna school, a scenario people could hardly envisage six decades back when it first came to the notice of modern scholarship. The doctrine of Kalikrama, lit. sequential order of consciousness deities called Kalis, constitutes the most pivotal aspect of this school marked by a synchronous resonance between the esoteric/Tantric and cognitive/metaphysical undercurrents of the system.
In order to delve deeper into the doctrine of Kalikrama the present monograph does some loud thinking in three important areas: (a) the role of cognitivization in the ultimate realization; (b) the theoretical background of the mystical experience built around the consciousness deity(ies); and (c) the inconclusiveness of the hidden meaning posing an epistemological barrier in the study of an esoteric Tantric tradition. In all these areas one cannot miss the imprints of Abhinavagupta’s profound contribution. As such, the present study journeys into three directions: (1) a short genealogy of modern Krama studies; (2) the epistemology of the esoteric internalization embodied in the doctrine of Kalikrama; and (3) the role played by Abhinavagupta as its foremost architect. As such, the present study needs be construed as a small step towards discovering the intrinsic epistemological ethos of an esoteric Tantric tradition.
This volume, a tribute to Prof. Amita Chatterjee, features the views of forty scholars across the globe on major philosophical areas like Fusion Philosophy, Mind and Cognition, Mind and Perception, Mind and Language, Logic, and Indian Philosophy along with the autobiography of Chatterjee and her response to the contributions of those scholars.
“Knowing one’s tradition is important; but only when tradition is not presented as fossilised but as continuous with our present-day living. In most places we do not make enough effort to show the link between the classical philosophical thoughts and the contemporary world view. We need to show that we can still meaningfully interact with the classical philosophical systems”, writes Amita Chatterjee in her seminal essay “In Search of Counterpoints”. This volume is dedicated in her honour. “Knowing one’s tradition is important; but only when tradition is not presented as fossilised but as continuous with our present-day living. In most places we do not make enough effort to show the link between the classical philosophical thoughts and the contemporary world view. We need to show that we can still meaningfully interact with the classical philosophical systems”, writes Amita Chatterjee in her seminal essay “In Search of Counterpoints”. This volume is dedicated in her honour. Chatterjee belongs to a genre of philosophers, who have as part of their cultural heritage, like Raghunath Siromani and Immanuel Kant. Chatterjee, in addition to breaking cultural boundaries, desired to break boundaries that have kept professional disciplines apart. She deeply believes that there are certain basic questions that are questions not for any specific discipline. These questions, she thinks, could not be answered by remaining within one single discipline. It is no surprise that she was the founder of the first Cognitive Science Centre in India. Responding to her multifaceted academic talent, forty academics from diverse disciplines and from all over the world have contributed papers to this volume. The major areas of Chatterjee’s interest that feature in this volume are: (i) Fusion Philosophy, (ii) Mind and Cognition, (iii) Mind and Perception, (iv) Mind and Language, (v) Logic and Vagueness, (vi) Logic, (vii) Indian Philosophy, and (viii) Philosophy, Society and Popular Culture. Chatterjee’s intellectual autobiography and her responses to each of the papers are parts of this volume.
ISBN 9788124609514 (vol. 1)
ISBN 9788124609521 (vol. 2)
The crisis of the age inheres in this, that notwithstanding the century’s mind-numbing disasters, it persists in subscribing to propositions which have logically led to the atomization of the whole cloth of human experiencing, and being. Great indeed is the value which is placed on the procedure of analytic dismemberment. While the method has certainly been result-producing, materially, in its wake it has brought immense suffering – both physical and spiritual. The price paid for a lopsided advance is thirty major wars – with their toll of one hundred and thirty million lives, and the irreparable destruction of the natural environment. The time demands a reappraisal of the basic paradigms of human existence, but the hegemony of well-entrenched vested interests – material or intellectual – would seem to preclude this.
The “advanced” people among the mankind of the day become suicidally specialized. For, if the mechanical model of thought has been of advantage in man’s preceding unfolding, the same, what may be called the “survival” paradigm, now creates dangerous dualities, binary oppositions (you–me, body–mind, East–West, etc). The model has outlived its usefulness merely enforcing dormancy on a major part of the human brain.
It behoves mankind to choose wisely right now – since parallel to the socio-economic, scientific and technological revolutions there has got to be the overdue radical psychic transformation. The first step towards clearing the fateful crisis would therefore be to be aware and end the hold of the linear, causal, mechanical thought orientation over the intellectual culture of the times.
Delving deep into the epistemological cum ontological causation of the emergency confronting the being and becoming of man, this volume provokes the thoughtful lay reader to a serious engagement with his or her self.
This book represents the philosophy of language in Navya-Nyaya, based upon an analysis of the “Verbal Suffix Chapter” (Akhyatavada) of Gangesha’s Tattvacintamani. Since this chapter elaborates what kind of verbal understanding is generated and discusses related issues, the book demonstrates the main features of that philosophy of language and serves as a good introduction to that. The analysis mainly deals with Gangesha, but in some cases it refers to Raghunatha. Since the book is an attempt to pursue philological exactness and philosophical analysis, it is hoped to interest not only Sanskrit scholars, but also philosophers in general.
The book consists of four lectures. Lecture I clarifies Gangesha’s view of the meaning of the suffixes of a finite verb, which (meaning) is greatly disputed among the Navya-Nyaya philosophers, the Mimamsa philosophers, and the Grammarians. Lecture II investigates how Gangesha determines the meaning of words and illustrates that his method bears upon ontological categories of Vaisheshika. Lecture III deals with Gangesha’s “Five Definitions of Invariable Concomitance Section” (Vyaptipancaka) and elucidates the relation between meaning and the logical structure of the definitions. The lecture also provides diagrams as a tool to represent the structure. Lecture IV explains the realistic standpoint of Navya-Nyaya by clarifying the concept of the counterpositive (pratiyogin) of absence (abhava), or a thing whose existence is negated, focusing on empty terms or non-factual expressions such as “a round triangle”, “the present King of France”, “a rabbit’s horn”, and so forth. The lecture delineates how Udayana, Gangesha, and Raghunatha observed and, as the time passed, did realism thoroughly in language analysis.
This book deals with all aspects of politics based on Mahabharata and addresses topics such as dandaniti, origin of state, the seven elements of state, functions of state, types of state, kinship, judiciary and administration in detail, among many other issues of political importance.
The idea of politics hardly finds an expression elsewhere as clearly as in Mahabharata. This work thus investigates the political thought explicit in Shanti-Parva and emphasizes that Mahabharata is a text in the study of politics, apart from the perception of it being a great epic and a text of high literary value. Whatever be the notion of politics we contemplate upon, it finds an articulation in Mahabharata. As the Greek tradition of thinking is the base of Western politics, Shanti-Parva of Mahabharata represents the Indian notion of political thinking, though there remain many similarities and dissimilarities between the two systems.
This volume navigates one to how to read Mahabharata as a political text; the idea of political thoughts, the constituting principles of politics and the political institutions in Shanti-Parva; and the relevance of these political thoughts in modern time. Topics such as dandaniti, origin of state, the seven elements of state, functions of state, types of state, kinship, judiciary and administration are discussed in detail, among many other issues of political importance.
The book collects, analyses and examines the internal evidences from Shanti-Parva and also from other parvans of Mahabharata to reach a decisive conclusion, making the work a composite result of textual analysis, related literature and subjective contemplation. It clearly shows that the idea of politics is not separated from the idea of ethics. Rather they are intertwined.
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