Publisher's Synopsis
This collection of essays by Professor J. N. Mohanty on Indian philosophy and related topics, brought together in a volume for the first time, provides us a glimpse of his writings in this area over a forty-year span. Not only do they 'chart a sort of intellectual autobiography', the 27 essays also trace the development of thinking and studious reflections on a range of issues and problems that have occupied among the best minds in philosophy, East or West. Part I brings together various writings on problems in metaphysics, epistemology, and language, along with thoughtful treatments of notions such as experience, self, consciousness, doubt, tradition and modernity. Part II consists of essays written during the exciting though turbulent years following India's Independence, and they survey issues in social ethics, reform activities, and religion variously in the works of Aurobindo, Gandhi, Vinobha and Rammohun Roy. Part III comprises essays that discuss the encounter between phenomenology and philosophy, between Indian and Western philosophy, and it does this through an incisive analysis of some major concerns of philosophy, anywhere. The collection ends with some thoughts on the future of Indian philosophy. Those keen on keeping abreast with the 'other' interests and equally analytical reflections of one of the finest minds in contemporary phenomenology and philosophical currents, will find in these essays an invigorating, if not also a challenging, thrust. The editor's substantial introduction followed by the author's own prologue set the scene for a stimulating read.
