The inability of the Chinese language to express counterfactuals is even more intriguing. As you know, Confucius wrote his “Analects” in the Classical Chinese language. In order to see where I am heading, consider some of the thoughts that Rosemont, Jr. expresses. (Rosemont, Jr., H., “Against Relativism.” In Larson G. J. and E. Deutsch (eds.), Interpreting Across Boundaries: New Essays in …
Are western traditions innately richer because they have the moral ought? My answer: No. In fact, in my book on ethics I will prove the following: the non-normative ethics are richer: Under specific assumptions, in limited conditions, one can derive a normative ethics from a non-normative one. The relation between non-normative ethics and normative ethics is analogous to the relation between …
The first thing to note is that there is no distance between how we use corruption in our daily language and the way it is used in political and sociological theories of corruption. You see, the problem we (Indians) face is the asymmetry in the way the word is used while talking about us and the way it is used when talking about India. I want to signal this by putting up the red flag: I want to …
Is the division between the West and East Orientalist in nature? Well, that is what Edward Said says in his Orientalism; that is what many writers in his wake say too. I beg to disagree. Let me make but three points. One: that there is an Indian culture and a western culture has been established in my book. (Of course, it is also an experiential given.) Consequently, I have just presumed this …
Let us say that ‘X’ does something which ‘Y’ considers corrupt. To keep it simple, let us say that ‘Y’ expresses the aforementioned judgment. In order to express it, or persuade others about the validity of this moral judgment, ‘Y’ will have to do something like this:
Y defines ‘corruption’: “All actions which exhibit _______ properties are corrupt”
Y’s ’ethical principle’ (itself justified): “All …
The first thing that is really striking involves what I will call the burden of proof. That is, I am being asked to prove that my assertions about corruption are true. In one sense, it appears an entirely reasonable demand to make: after all, one should not entertain gratuitous claims. But what seems to have escaped the attention of many is this: what precisely do I have to prove? Who has the …
The first question: “By saying that there exist “Western” and “Indian” cultures aren’t you somehow essentializing cultures into monoliths?”
I do not see how. When we talk of ’the human species’ (in the singular), or about ’life’ (again in the singular) while doing evolutionary biology, we do not presuppose or imply that either of the two is a monolithic entity, do we? In fact, diversity is a …
(A) Consider the following sequence of sentences:
All Indians are perfectly and fully moral. All westerners are perfectly fully moral. All Indians are immoral. All westerners are immoral. For sentences (1) and (2), all it takes is one instance of immorality to be proven wrong. Our proverbial municipal clerk would be immoral, and it would disprove the sentence (1). The same example could also …
One of the striking things about the British colonial rule is its success in developing certain ways of talking about the Indian culture and society. The British criticised the Indian ‘religions’, the Indian ‘caste system’, the Indian education system, practices like ‘sati’ and ‘untouchability’, and so on and so forth. They redrew the outlines of Indian intellectual history as indigenous responses …
What is western normative ethics? It is a structure or style of thinking about ethics. What is its structure? It makes use of norms. What are norms? ‘Rules’ or ‘principles’ which have a characteristic structure that use certain concepts like the moral ‘ought’ and moral ‘ought not’. That is, some actions ought to be performed (i.e. they are obligatory); some actions ought not to be performed (i.e. …
Symbolic interpretation of lingam from a netizen: “In ancient India, there was a fertility cult; our ancestors knew that it was a fertility cult; Lingam was a symbol for the phallus then; it continues to be one even when many millions are ignorant of this now; and that the Modern Indians’ attitude to sex is inhibiting because of which they do not see the symbolism.”
To keep the contrast between us …
I do not want to indulge in a discussion about Behavioral Psychology either on this forum or on any other forum. It is to waste of time I do not have. Let me very briefly state where I stand with respect to that discipline. In its early days, it was useful in providing some insights into animal behavior. I share the dominant consensus regarding its status today: it is obsolete. It does not quite …
Assuming that our theories in Physics are not false, would there be gravitational force in the Cosmos (or on our planet) whether or not there was a theory about it? This is the question about the ’truth’ and ‘objectivity’ of our theories. If we say ‘yes’, I do not see how one can say the opposite, then the truth or falsity of, say, Aristotelian theory is not dependent on the ‘consumer’ of that …
Is there a ‘wannabe Indianism’ in our attempts to understand our tradition? I am not sure: maybe there is, maybe there is not. Of course, the question is why is this relevant? Whatever the motives or the contexts of any individual writer why should that be an argument for either accepting or rejecting or even putting his opinions on hold? The way I see it, the nature of the phenomenon is of …
The question appears to be: need one accept certain premises of Christianity (whether Protestant or Catholic varieties) in order that the dominant understanding of, say, the secular state and the caste to make sense? That those to whom such accounts make sense do not explicitly subscribe to the premises of a specific religious appears to throw doubt on our claims.
Consider the very distinction …
Summary of Lorenzen’s article: “Lorenzen doesn’t only cite Jesuits and Muslims, but also ‘Hindus’ themselves. His main argument is that Hinduism isn’t an invention by anyone in particular. It grew out of a need to establish an identity vis-à-vis foreigners (mlecchas). In other words, an identity by contrast with the ‘others.’”
There is a world of difference between what one wants to argue and what …
Let us call the descriptions of what you see ‘facts’. Are your ‘facts’ a contribution to human knowledge? In one sense they are; the way any description of anything by anybody is a ‘fact’ and thus knowledge. One needs, and one has, a way of not wanting to call every piece of ‘fact’ as knowledge. Hence, we can reformulate the issue: does it contribute towards building a scientific theory of …
About who the ‘authentic Hind’ or ’the authentic Indian’ is. The greatest strength of our culture lies in the fact that this is a non-question as far as our traditions are concerned. Even though I have now spent nearly as many years outside India as I have spent inside, I do not feel an ‘outsider’. Nor am I considered as one by the members my family, for instance, most of whom have never left …
Let me lay this fear to rest: I am not speaking for the community. To the question, ‘Who speaks for the Indian traditions?’ my reply is simple: anyone, everyone, whoever feels like. (Of course, I do not consider the question very sensible, but that is a side-issue for the moment.)
Having said this much, let me also say that my discussion with Jeffrey Kripal is not about the moral right to speak in …
You ask us not to ‘judge’. It is not clear what the force of judgment is to which you object. When I listen to someone (today) insisting that the earth is flat or that the Sun revolves round the earth, I judge that this person (in all probability) does not have much of an idea about the physical theories. Because I am not sure, I try to find out what his arguments are. If they do not cognitively …
