The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity - Hardcover

Sen, Amartya Kumar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0374105839 ISBN 13: 9780374105839

Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux, 2005

Synopsis

A Nobel Laureate offers a dazzling new book about his native country
India is a country with many distinct traditions, widely divergent customs, vastly different convictions, and a veritable feast of viewpoints. In The Argumentative Indian, Amartya Sen draws on a lifetime study of his country’s history and culture to suggest the ways we must understand India today in the light of its rich, long argumentative tradition.
The millenia-old texts and interpretations of Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Muslim, agnostic, and atheistic Indian thought demonstrate, Sen reminds us, ancient and well-respected rules for conducting debates and disputations, and for appreciating not only the richness of India’s diversity but its need for toleration. 
Though Westerners have often perceived India as a place of endless spirituality and unreasoning mysticism, he underlines its long tradition of skepticism and reasoning, not to mention its secular contributions to mathematics, astronomy, linguistics, medicine, and political economy.
Sen discusses many aspects of India’s rich intellectual and political heritage, including philosophies of governance from Kautilya’s and Ashoka’s in the fourth and third centuries BCE to Akbar’s in the 1590s; the history and continuing relevance of India’s relations with China more than a millennium ago; its old and well-organized calendars; the films of Satyajit Ray and the debates between Gandhi and the visionary poet Tagore about India's past, present, and future.
The success of India’s democracy and defense of its secular politics depend, Sen argues, on understanding and using this rich argumentative tradition. It is also essential to removing the inequalities (whether of caste, gender, class, or community) that mar Indian life, to stabilizing the now precarious conditions of a nuclear-armed subcontinent, and to correcting what Sen calls the politics of deprivation. His invaluable book concludes with his meditations on pluralism, on dialogue and dialectics in the pursuit of social justice, and on the nature of the Indian identity.

About this title

Review:

"The product of such a great mind at the peak of its power, "The Argumentative Indian" is one of the most stimulating books about India to be written for years."--William Dalrymple, "The Times" (London)
"This is a book that needed to have been written. . . . It would be no surprise if it were to become as defining and influential a work as Edward Said's "Orientalism.""--Soumya Bhattacharya, "The Observer" (London)
"An intellectual tour de force from an economist who can lay equal claim to the designations of sociologist, historian, political analyst, and moral philosopher."--Shashi Tharoor, "The Washington Post"
"Masterfully tying Indian concerns to broader social and philosophical questions, Sen addresses the many aspects of Indian identity."--"Library Journal"

"This is a book that needed to have been written. . . . It would be no surprise if it were to become as defining and influential a work as Edward Said's "Orientalism.""--Soumya Bhattacharya, "The Observer" (London)
"The product of a great and playful mind at the peak of its power, "The Argumentative Indian" is the most stimulating and enjoyable book about the idea and identity of India to be written for years."--William Dalrymple, "The New York Review of Books"
" "
"An intellectual tour de force from an economist who can lay equal claim to the designations of sociologist, historian, political analyst, and moral philosopher . . . Breathtaking in its range and scholarly eclecticism."--Shashi Tharoor, "The Washington Post Book World"
"Masterfully tying Indian concerns to broader social and philosophical questions, Sen addresses the many aspects of Indian identity."--"Library Journal"

This is a book that needed to have been written. . . . It would be no surprise if it were to become as defining and influential a work as Edward Said's "Orientalism." "Soumya Bhattacharya, The Observer (London)"

The product of a great and playful mind at the peak of its power, "The Argumentative Indian" is the most stimulating and enjoyable book about the idea and identity of India to be written for years. "William Dalrymple, The New York Review of Books"

An intellectual tour de force from an economist who can lay equal claim to the designations of sociologist, historian, political analyst, and moral philosopher . . . Breathtaking in its range and scholarly eclecticism. "Shashi Tharoor, The Washington Post Book World"

Masterfully tying Indian concerns to broader social and philosophical questions, Sen addresses the many aspects of Indian identity. "Library Journal""

This is a book that needed to have been written. . . . It would be no surprise if it were to become as defining and influential a work as Edward Said's Orientalism. Soumya Bhattacharya, The Observer (London)

The product of a great and playful mind at the peak of its power, The Argumentative Indian is the most stimulating and enjoyable book about the idea and identity of India to be written for years. William Dalrymple, The New York Review of Books

An intellectual tour de force from an economist who can lay equal claim to the designations of sociologist, historian, political analyst, and moral philosopher . . . Breathtaking in its range and scholarly eclecticism. Shashi Tharoor, The Washington Post Book World

Masterfully tying Indian concerns to broader social and philosophical questions, Sen addresses the many aspects of Indian identity. Library Journal

"

"This is a book that needed to have been written. . . . It would be no surprise if it were to become as defining and influential a work as Edward Said's Orientalism." --Soumya Bhattacharya, The Observer (London)

"The product of a great and playful mind at the peak of its power, The Argumentative Indian is the most stimulating and enjoyable book about the idea and identity of India to be written for years." --William Dalrymple, The New York Review of Books

"An intellectual tour de force from an economist who can lay equal claim to the designations of sociologist, historian, political analyst, and moral philosopher . . . Breathtaking in its range and scholarly eclecticism." --Shashi Tharoor, The Washington Post Book World

"Masterfully tying Indian concerns to broader social and philosophical questions, Sen addresses the many aspects of Indian identity." --Library Journal

About the Author:

Amartya Sen is Lamont University Professor at Harvard. He won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 and was Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, 1998–2004. His most recent books are Development as Freedom (Knopf, 1999) and Rationality and Freedom (Harvard University Press, 2002). His books have been translated into thirty languages.

About this edition

• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0374105839
• ISBN 13: 9780374105839
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 409