Explanations that trivialize experiences
1. In many cultures, especially in the Indian case, it is important to understand that stories are not explanations. They are neither true nor false because they do not describe…
Read moreComparative Anthropology and Action Sciences. An Essay on Knowing to Act and Acting to Know—S.N.Balagangadhara
[ Original, published Philosophica 40 (2): 77–107] Introduction Should action sciences exist, it is obvious what they would have to study; the nature of human action, the kind of knowledge that actions generate, the…
Read moreThe past and ways of talking about it
What is history? In the first place, it is the subject matter of historiography, which is what historians write. What does historiography talk about? The human past. In other words,…
Read moreLinga, Puja, Symbolism—S.N.Balagangadhara
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…
Read moreIs Rain dance superstitious?—Willem Derde
Some consider it to be a “superstitious practice”, the implication being that it is irrational to believe that dancing causes the rain to fall: no reasonable people on earth can…
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