[ 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 Future of the Present. Thinking Through Orientalism—S.N.Balagangadhara
[Appeared in Cultural Dynamics July 1998 10: 101-121] Though the book was published nearly two decades ago, Said’s Orientalism continues to be topical. Many have rejected the message of this work; others have attempted…
Read moreComparative Anthropology and Rhetorics in Cultures.
[Published in Robert Maier (Ed.) Norms in Argumentation: proceedings of the conference on Norms (1989). Dordrecht: Foris, pp. 195–211.] Introduction Perhaps it is best that we begin on a personal note.…
Read moreRituals and their meaninglessness—S.N.Balagangadhara
1. Consider, say, a ritual like sandhyaavandanam. Here are two extremes, when it comes to saying what it is: (a) one goes very deeply into what Mudras mean, which of…
Read moreColonial Consciousness as a process and as an event
It is an event because the colonial consciousness that I am talking about comprises of multiplicity of actions executed by indefinitely many Indians over a long period. It is a…
Read moreThe reality of elusive man? –S.N.Balagangadhara
[Appeared in Nispen & Tiemersma (Eds.), The Quest of Man: The Topicality of Philosophical Anthropology, 1991 Assen: von Gorcum, pp. 112-116] Speaking of ‘the greatest mystery of our humanness’, Sinari raises the…
Read moreAvidya, Ajnana, Maaya, Ignorance: a learning process
When we speak about ignorance, we can do so in two ways. One is by talking about ‘how the world is’; the other is by talking about ‘how we think…
Read moreIntrospection vs. reflection on experience—S.N.Balagangadhara
In this post, I want to reflect on what it means to access and think about experience. Perhaps, not so much on what these words mean but what is entailed…
Read moreCultural difference: temporality
Experiences are structured differently in different cultures. We believe that it is possible to give a true description of this difference, at some level or the other, as a difference regarding the experience…
Read moreUnderstanding and Imagination: A Critical Notice of Halbfass and Inden
[Published in Cultural Dynamics 3 (4): 387–405] Introduction During the last decade or so, a new restlessness has begun to disturb the calm facade of the social scientific academia. As yet, it…
Read more