[INDOLOGY] Book Announcement --- Hinduism: A Contemporary Philosophical Investigation

[Shyam Ranganathan]

Dear List Members,

Apologies for cross-posting.

I'm happy to announce that my book (in the work for the past five years) 
is out. It is part of a series of books on the philosophy of religion: 
each on a specific religion. Also, I am happy to thank kind members of 
our list (RISA for sure)  (our own Frank Clooney, Jeff Long and Ashwani 
Peetush) who provided reviews for the book. I would also like to thank 
the anonymous reviewers who provided useful feedback along the way.

It is called /Hinduism: A Contemporary Philosophical Investigation 
<https://www.routledge.com/Hinduism-A-Contemporary-Philosophical-Investigation/Ranganathan/p/book/9781138909106> 
/(Routledge 2019).

The abstract 
<https://www.routledge.com/Hinduism-A-Contemporary-Philosophical-Investigation/Ranganathan/p/book/9781138909106#description>, 
TOC 
<https://www.routledge.com/Hinduism-A-Contemporary-Philosophical-Investigation/Ranganathan/p/book/9781138909106#toc>as 
well as reviews 
<https://www.routledge.com/Hinduism-A-Contemporary-Philosophical-Investigation/Ranganathan/p/book/9781138909106#reviews>are 
on the publisher page.

In this book, I contrast two traditions. The one I call the /W/est: it's 
the intellectual tradition derivable from Greek philosophy, where 
thought and language were bound together in one idea: /logos/. So it not 
only defines thought by way of language, given its historical origins, 
it prioritizes European languages in its articulation of thought. It 
leads to many outcomes, some of which are contingent on its European 
origins in addition to the notion that thought is linguistic meaning (*):

  * the distinction between the /religious /as anything not originally
    derivable from European literature, and the /secular /as anything
    originally derivable from European literature* (hence all world
    religions have non-European roots)
  * the West's globalizing history of imperialism *
  * the study of philosophy conflated with the study of language
  * rampant anthoprocentrism (politely called 'humanism')
  * communitarianism (the idea that moral traits have to do with
    community membership)
  * nationalism
  * the confusion of thoughts (what we draw inferences from), and
    beliefs (descriptions of the attitude that a proposition is true)
  * the ubiquitous but logically bizarre view called
    "interpretation"---that all explanation or the good ones are
    explanations by way of what one takes to be true, seems true or is
    true (a procedure that violates basic requirements of logic).

If we try to make sense of Hinduism via the /W/est, we don't see Hindus 
as contributing to philosophical inquiry. We rather would have to make 
sense of Hinduism in terms of some shared humanistic beliefs, 
underwriting some communal Hindu outlook that is religious (inexplicable 
by European standards). Effort is hence diverted to fixing the content 
of Hindu belief.

Rather, I contrast this with an alternative, that identifies good 
explanations with logical inference, and thought with disciplinary 
practices (yoga). And the upshot is that if we take this approach: we 
lose any grounds for distinguishing between the secular the 
religious---all we find is philosophy; anthropocentrism and 
communitarianism are under-motivated (as is nationalism); Hinduism 
appears unique among things conventionally called "religion" --- it is 
nothing but the disagreements of philosophy.

The book contrasts the expectations of the /W/est with what I call 
/representative Hinduism/:

  * what Hindus and we converge on as we disagree across a diversity of
    philosophical topics using Indian resources.

The topics I explore are: ethics, logic, the philosophy of thought, 
epistemology, moral standing, metaphysics, and politics. Whereas the 
linguistic, /W/estern model of thought and explanation prioritizes 
agreement and truth, a representative Hindu model of thought and 
explanation prioritizes disagreement and objectivity. To understand 
Hinduism is hence to understand its disagreements, which are the 
disagreements of philosophy.

This book consists of a fairly broad overview of Indian philosophies in 
contrast to /W/estern contributions, and addresses the relationship 
between practice and theory.  It can be used as a source for exploring 
the problems of cross cultural scholarship and the problems of 
philosophy (with special reference to South Asia), or as an overview of 
Indian and Hindu philosophies.  Explicitly, it addresses the problem of 
making sense of Hinduism in a world of diversity.  I hence hope that it 
is useful to teachers covering the topic of Hinduism in their religious 
studies classes.

The book is political: representative Hinduism and has a fair bit to say 
about getting along in a diverse world.  I think (and I argue) that the 
effort to avoid politics and moral theorizing in the account of Indian 
thought is par for course with the /W/est: it would sooner depict 
Indians as converging on some shared mysticism.   One of the /W/est's 
many vices, traceable to the linguistic account of thought, is that it 
can't tolerate disagreement.   But it's not  essentially European: it 
can spread---colonized peoples can come to adopt the premises of the 
/W/est in their own self articulation   (Hindu nationalism is one of the 
outcomes). But, I argue, it's far more objective to understand Hinduism 
in terms of its disagreements and to abandon the /W/est.

Best wishes,

Shyam


Shyam Ranganathan

Department of Philosophy

York Center for Asian Research
York University, Toronto

shyam-ranganathan.info <http://shyam-ranganathan.info/>

/Hinduism: A Contemporary Philosophical Investigation 
<https://www.routledge.com/Hinduism-A-Contemporary-Philosophical-Investigation/Ranganathan/p/book/9781138909106>/

/The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Indian Ethics 
<http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/the-bloomsbury-research-handbook-of-indian-ethics-9781472587770/>/

/Patañjali`s Yoga Sūtras 
<http://penguin.co.in/book/classics/patanjalis-yoga-sutra/>/ (Translation, 
Edition and Commentary)

/Translating Evaluative Discourse: The Semantics of Thick and Thin 
Concepts <https://philpapers.org/rec/SHYTED>/

Full List, Publications <https://philpapers.org/s/shyam%20ranganathan>





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