Written by a noted philosopher and former president of India, this remarkable book describes the leading ideas of Indian philosophy and religion, and traces their influence upon Western thought from classical times, through the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, to the present day. The author also argues that Christianity, which arose out of an Eastern background but flourished in the Graeco-Roman culture, will eventually find its re-birth in a renewed alliance with its Eastern origins.

Since the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe, the validity of Marxism and Marxist theory has undergone intense scrutiny both within and outside the academy. In Lukacs After Communism, Eva L. Corredor conducts ten lively and engaging interviews with a diverse group of international scholars to address the continued relevance of Gyoergy Lukacs's theories to the post-communist era. Corredor challenges these theoreticians, who each have been influenced by the man once considered the foremost theoretician of Marxist aesthetics, to reconsider the Lukacsean legacy and to speculate on Marxist theory's prospects in the coming decades. The scholars featured in this collection-Etienne Balibar, Peter Burger, Terry Eagleton, Fredric Jameson, Jacques Leenhardt, Michael Loewy, Roberto Schwarz, George Steiner, Susan Suleiman, and Cornel West-discuss a broad array of literary and political topics and present provocative views on gender, race, and economic relations. Corredor's introduction provides a biographical synopsis of Lukacs and discusses a number of his most important theoretical concepts. Maintaining the ongoing vitality of Lukacs's work, these interviews yield insights into Lukacs as a philosopher and theorist, while offering anecdotes that capture him in his role as a teacher-mentor.

According to the mandala principle, a prominent feature of tantric Buddhism, all phenomena are part of one reality. Whether good or bad, happy or sad, clear or obscure, everything is interrelated and reflects a single totality. As Ch?gyam Trungpa explains in this book, from the perspective of the mandala principle, existence is orderly chaos. There is chaos and confusion because everything happens by itself, without any external ordering principle. At the same time, whatever happens expresses order and intelligence, wakeful energy and precision. Through meditative practices associated with the mandala princliple, the opposites of experience - confusion and enlightenment, chaos and order, pain and pleasure - are revealed as inseperatble parts of a total vision of reality.

Students and teachers of Chinese history and philosophy will not want to miss Daniel Gardner's accessible translation of the teachings of Chu Hsi (1130-1200)--a luminary of the Confucian tradition who dominated Chinese intellectual life for centuries. Homing in on a primary concern of our own time, Gardner focuses on Chu Hsi's passionate interest in education and its importance to individual development. For hundreds of years, every literate person in China was familiar with Chu Hsi's teachings. They informed the curricula of private academies and public schools and became the basis of the state's prestigious civil service examinations. Nor was Chu's influence limited to China. In Korea and Japan as well, his teachings defined the terms of scholarly debate and served as the foundation for state ideology. Chu Hsi was convinced that through education anyone could learn to be fully moral and thus travel the road to sagehood. Throughout his life, he struggled with the philosophical questions underlying education: What should people learn? How should they go about learning? What enables them to learn? What are the aims and the effects of learning? Part One of Learning to Be a Sage examines Chu Hsi's views on learning and how he arrived at them. Part Two presents a translation of the chapters devoted to learning in the Conversations of Master Chu.

Section I deals with problems presented by several Sanskrit works, namely the lower limit of the date of the original Harivamsa, Kalapriyanatha mentioned in Bhavabhuti's plays the identification of the date of Dhananjaya the author of the Dvisandhana Kavya and the Namamala and the fixation of his date the historical background of Rajasekhara's Viddhasalabhanjika etc. It gives also for the first time a detailed account for Soddhala's Udayasundarikatha.

This is the standard general account in English of Islamic philosophy and theology. It takes the reader from the religio-political sects of the Kharijites and the Shiites through to the assimilation of Greek thought in the medieval period, and onto the early modern period. Watt concludes with an analysis of Western influences on modern Islamic theology.

What are the still-unknown horizons of world thought? This book brings together prominent scholars from varying disciplines to speculate on this obscure question and the many crossroads that face intellectuals in our contemporary era and its aftermath. The result is a collection of "manifestos" that contemplate a potential global future for thinking itself, venturing across some of the most marginalized sectors of East and West (with particular emphasis on the Middle Eastern and Islamicate) in order to dissect crucial issues of culture, society, philosophy, literature, art, religion, and politics. The book explores themes such as universality, translation, modernity, language, history, identity, resistance, ecology, catastrophe, memory, and the body, offering a groundbreaking alignment of texts and ideas with far-reaching implications for our time and beyond.

Nature conservation planning tends to be driven by models based on Western norms and science, but these may not represent the cultural, philosophical and religious contexts of much of Asia. This book provides a new perspective on the topic of sacred natural sites and cultural heritage by linking Asian cultures, religions and worldviews with contemporary conservation practices and approaches. The chapters focus on the modern significance of sacred natural sites in Asian protected areas with reference, where appropriate, to an Asian philosophy of protected areas. Drawn from over 20 different countries, the book covers examples of sacred natural sites from all of IUCN's protected area categories and governance types. The authors demonstrate the challenges faced to maintain culture and support spiritual and religious governance and management structures in the face of strong modernisation across Asia. The book shows how sacred natural sites contribute to defining new, more sustainable and more equitable forms of protected areas and conservation that reflect the worldviews and beliefs of their respective cultures and religions. The book contributes to a paradigm-shift in conservation and protected areas as it advocates for greater recognition of culture and spirituality through the adoption of biocultural conservation approaches.

First published in 1995, I Am Because We Are has been recognized as a major, canon-defining anthology and adopted as a text in a wide variety of college and university courses. Bringing together writings by prominent black thinkers from Africa, the Caribbean, and North America, Fred Lee Hord and Jonathan Scott Lee made the case for a tradition of ""relational humanism"" distinct from the philosophical preoccupations of the West. Over the past twenty years, however, new scholarly research has uncovered other contributions to the discipline now generally known as ""Africana philosophy"" that were not included in the original volume. In this revised and expanded edition, Hord and Lee build on the strengths of the earlier anthology while enriching the selection of readings to bring the text into the twenty-first century. In a new introduction, the editors reflect on the key arguments of the book's central thesis, refining them in light of more recent philosophical discourse. This edition includes important new readings by Kwame Gyekye, Oyèrónké Oy ewùmí, Paget Henry, Sylvia Wynter, Toni Morrison, Charles Mills, and Tommy Curry, as well as extensive suggestions for further reading.

In this treatise Ibn Rushd (Averroes) sets out to show that the Scriptural Law (shar') of Islam does not altogether prohibit the study of philosophy by Muslims, but, on the contrary, makes it a duty for a certain class of people, those with the capacity for "demonstrative" or scientific reasoning. Apparent conflicts between the teachings of Scripture and philosophy can be reconciled by allegorical interpretations of Scripture, though such interpretations should not be taught to the common people. Ibn Rushd's contribution to what was clearly a lively debate in Almovarid Andalusia is here accompanied by extracts from two other relevant works, his Damima and Kitab al-Kashf 'an Manahij al-Adilla, and all are covered by a full intorduction and notes.

Discover the East through its religions and philosophies

"Understand Eastern Philosophy" examines key ideas that developed within the ancient civilizations of India and China. It presents a range of philosophies that both inform discussion of personal, moral and social issues and address the fundamental questions about the nature of reality and the place and purpose of human life within it.
From the erotic images of Tantra to the simple precision of Zen, and from the social order in traditional Confucian teaching to the rich variety of Hindu ideas and lifestyles, "Understand Eastern Philosophy" provides you with a feast of ideas of universal relevance.

With this book, you will Understand the ethical and social implications of Eastern philosophy Learn key terms in their original language through their full explanations See the parallels with Western thought Appreciate the religions of India and the Far East

The Greek philosopher Protagoras, in the opening words of his lost book Truth, famously asserted, "Man is the measure of all things." This contention-that humanity cannot know the world except by means of human aptitudes and abilities-has endured through the centuries in the work of diverse writers. In this bold and creative new investigation into the philosophical and intellectual parameters of the question of the animal, Tom Tyler explores a curious fact: in arguing or assuming that knowledge is characteristically human, thinkers have time and again employed animals as examples, metaphors, and fables. From Heidegger's lizard and Popper's bees to Saussure's ox and Freud's wolves, Tyler points out, "we find a multitude of brutes and beasts crowding into the texts to which they are supposedly unwelcome." Inspired by the medieval bestiaries, Tyler's book features an assortment of "wild animals" (ferae)-both real and imaginary-who appear in the works of philosophy as mere ciferae, or ciphers; each is there deployed as a placeholder, of no importance or worth in their own right. Examining the work of such figures as Bataille, Moore, Nietzsche, Kant, Whorf, Darwin, and Derrida, among others, Tyler identifies four ways in which these animals have been used and abused: as interchangeable ciphers; as instances of generalized animality; as anthropomorphic caricatures; and as repetitive stereotypes. Looking closer, however, he finds that these unruly beasts persistently and mischievously question the humanist assumptions of their would-be employers. Tyler ultimately challenges claims of human distinctiveness and superiority, which are so often represented by the supposedly unique and perfect human hand. Contrary to these claims, he contends that the hand is, in fact, a primitive organ, and one shared by many different creatures, thereby undercutting one of the foundations of anthropocentricism and opening up the possibility of nonhuman, or more-than-human, knowledge.

In his writings Erasmus was more interested in arguing than in settling a case. However the equivocation we find in his writings is more than a literary game or a technical expedient. It is the corollary of his scepticism. One can hardly expect unequivocal statements on complex issues such as the role of women in society from a man who holds that human affairs take so many shapes that definite answers cannot be provided for them all.' But as Erika Rummel demonstrates, the difficulties of interpreting Erasmus' texts do not invalidate their use as sources of social history; they only prevent us from ascribing the views expressed specifically to Erasmus. What emerges from the text is a composite picture of women's role in society, reflecting a spectrum of views held in Erasmus' time rather than a coherent set of views advocated by him personally.

Erasmus on Women offers selections from Erasmus' manuals on marriage and widowhood, his rhetorical treatises, and the Colloquies. The texts deal with the courtship, marriage, child-rearing, and widowhood. Selections treating particular topics, such as prostitution, scholarship, and activism, are placed within the context in which they are discussed by Erasmus.

Erasmus' dialogues present a lively cast of virgins and mothers, housewives and harlots, shrews and activists. The fifteen texts and excerpts offered here represent a mixture of traditional and progressive thought. Along the traditional lines, he commends women for their role as caregivers and for their service to God and society. In contrast, he holds progressive views (by the standards of his time) on the education of women and breaks with tradition by challenging the idea that celibacy is superior to the married state.

Erasmus' views were radical for his time and frequently involved him in controversy. Lavishly praised by some, his writings were bitterly denounced by others. Yet the wide dissemination of his writings makes him an important commentator and influence on the social thought of the sixteenth century.

The story of African philosophy is surrounded by controversy. Decades after the "great debate" over its mere existence, many vital questions have been left unanswered. From examining the origins of African philosophy to addressing fundamental issues in ontology, epistemology, ethics, and political thought, this collection of essays brings fresh insight to questions both old and new. First time readers and seasoned scholars alike will find this book to be an essential resource in African thought. Atuolu Omalu gives shape and direction to a hitherto formless discipline and heralds an exciting future for African philosophy.

Philip Theophrastus Aureolus Bombastus von Hohenheim - known to later ages as Paracelsus - stands on the borderline between medieval and modern; a name that is familiar but a man who has been hard to perceive or understand. Contemporary of Luther, enemy of established medicine, scourge of the universities ('at all the German schools you cannot learn as much as at the Frankfurt Fair'), army surgeon and alchemist, myths about him - from his treating diseases from beyond the grave in mid-nineteenth century Salzburg to his Faustian bargain with the devil to regain his youth - have been far more lasting than his actual story. Even during his lifetime, he was rumoured to travel with a magical white horse and to store the elixir of life in the pommel of his sword. But who was Paracelsus and what did he really believe and practice? Although Paracelsus has been seen as both a charlatan and as a founder of modern science, Philip Ball's book reveals a more richly complex man - who used his eyes and ears to learn from nature how to heal, and who wrote influential books on medicine, surgery, alchemy and theology while living a drunken, combative, vagabond life. Above all, Ball reveals a man who was a product of his time - an age of great change in which the church was divided and the classics were rediscovered - and whose bringing together of the seemingly diverse disciplines of alchemy and biology signalled the beginning of the age of rationalism.

Lao-tzu's "Te-Tao Ching" has been treasured for thousands of years for its poetic statement of life's most profound and elusive truths. This new translation, based on the 1973 discovery of two copies of the manuscript more than five centuries older than any others known, corrects many defects of the later versions. In his extensive commentary, Professor Henricks reevaluates traditional interpretations.

The several Brahmin hands who wrote the Laws of Manu drew on jurisprudence, philosophy and religion to create an extraordinary, encyclopaedic model of how life should be lived, in public and in private, by Untouchables as well as by priests and kings, by women as well as by men.

The Sanskrit text was first translated into English in 1794, and translations into other European languages swiftly followed. For Nietzsche the human wisdom of Manu far surpassed that of the New Testament; for the British Raj it seemed to be the perfect tool with which to rule the Hindu. No understanding of modern India is possible without it, and in the richness of its ideas, its aphoristic profundity and its relevance to universal human dilemmas Manu stands beside the great epics, the Mahãbhãrata and the Rãmãyana.

Many commentators find Manu contradictory and ambiguous; others perceive a clear thematic integrity; and the argument is renewed by Wendy Doniger and Brian K. Smith in their illuminating Introduction. Wendy Doniger provides a landmark translation, the first authoritative English rendering this century. It is also the first to set the unadulterated text in narrative form, making it accessible and enjoyable both to specialist scholars and to a wider audience.

In these two streams of thought represented by Kabir and Krishnaji, the authors note a facinating parallelism. These streams run parallel to each other - and yet they meet from time to time - at the intersections between the two approaches to life.