Book description
'The time has come for global philosophy to move beyond the model where
the West is at the centre of radiating spokes of comparison.'
Challenging the notion that Western philosophy is the best or only
yardstick against which to judge the so-called 'non-Western'
philosophies, Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad sets up a lively debate in which
the great thought systems of the East are engaged very much in their own
terms. The author's impressive sweep takes him through South Asia east
to China and Japan, encompassing 3000 years of philosophy and including
the ancient philosophies of India, Jainism, Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism.
At the same time, Ram-Prasad dispels the romantic illusion that there is
some common mystical 'wisdom tradition' that binds together the cultures
of the East. His aim is to give a sense of the diversity and depth of
these philosophical cultures, as well as their sophistication and
originality; and to make comparisons between them to illuminate their
varied yet potentially universal appeal. Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad
studied Politics, Sociology and History in India, and took a doctorate
in Philosophy at Oxford. He has taught at the National University of
Singapore and held Research Fellowships at Trinity College Oxford and
Clare Hall, Cambridge. He has also been Visiting Fellow at Benares Hindu
University, Ecole Francaise d' Extreme Orient, Pondicherry and De Nobili
College, Pune. He has a range of interests in global and comparative
philosophies, and is on the academic advisory council of the Global
Religion and Ethics Forum, the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and the
Templeton Foundation's Global Perspective on Science and Spirituality
Programme. He lectures regularly at universities in the USA, Europe and
India, and will be a plenary speaker at the 9th East-West Philosophers'
Conference in Hawaii in 2005. Ram-Prasad is currently based in the
Department of Religious Studies, Lancaster University.
