Lecture on Indian Philosophy
The Department of Language Literature and Aesthetics at SLS, PDPU organised an
expert lecture titled “Indian Philosophy: Contributions to and Contestations with
Western Philosophy” on November 14, 2017. The talk was given by Dr. A. Raghurama
Raju, Professor in Philosophy at the Department of Philosophy at the University of
Hyderabad. Ms. Neeta Khurana co-ordinated the efforts at organising the lecture.
This was the rst lecture of such magnitude about Philosophy at the School of Liberal
Studies and she emphasized that it could pave the way of a full course in future.. The
talk was well attended by students.
Professor Raghurama Raju, is a widely published scholar in Social theory and Indian
Philosophy. He specialises in the study of modernity in India and is widely acclaimed
for his published works in the eld. His talk at SLS was aimed at introducing neophytes
to the discipline of Philosophy in general and Indian Philosophy in particular. Prof.
Raghurama Raju, Raju began his talk enumerating the misconceptions about Indian
Philosophy and repeatedly used metaphors. Prof. Raghurama Raju, displayed an
excellent example of classroom teaching by narrating stories and metaphors to
emphasise his points. The students were mesmerised by the speaker's ability of
breaking difcult concepts into simple expression. Following is a summary of the
lecture.
Welcome Address
Prof. Pradeep Mallik presented the guest with a shawl and delivered a welcome
address in which he emphasised upon the importance of Philosophy and presented
an estimate of Indian Philosophy for students of Liberal Arts
Bending Without Breaking
Prof. Raghurama Raju, began by stating that the West as
the 'other' and India as the 'self' should not be viewed in
an oppressor oppressed dyad. The oppressor is often the
enabler of thinking especially in the 20th century India.
To emphasise his point further, Prof. Raghurama Raju,
used various instances from texts and history. According
to Prof. Raju one of the aws committed by Indian
philosophers is that they compare Classical India with
Modern western Philosophy. According to him, a better
method to borrow and follow the distinctions between
the two systems of Philosophy, i.e. Indian and Western
would be to bring the western philosophy in India which
would be akin to 'bending without breaking'.
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