SLS Mirror November 2017 | Page 8

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 difcult 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'. 6