42nd meet on Indian Hermeneutics of Suspicion

The event, first time at Guwahati, will be iugurated by Most Rev. John Moolachira, Archbishop of Guwahati.   A total of 100 philosophers, intellectuals, and academicians from across India would participate in this semir.  It would be followed by paper presentations, discussions and debate on the theme.  The event is being hosted at SFS School auditorium, a press release said.  

India has had a rich tradition of critical thinking from ancient times. Traditiol wisdom as represented in the Aastika systems such as Samkhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta have been critiqued by other systems such as Charvaka, Jainism and Buddhism. Divergent interpretations of the Upanishads have arisen because of a healthy argumentation between different philosophers. The Bhakti tradition, which emphasizes devotion more than learning, was also a critique of the more intellectually-oriented philosophical approaches. 

The many social reform movements all over the country in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries are historically recent examples of suspicion or critique. They have led to various social developments, especially in the areas of equality of opportunity cutting across divisions such as gender, class and caste. Such critique also led to the freedom struggle against colonialism. Modern urbanization, globalization and a robust Indian diaspora have further led to the purification and development of many social attitudes and practices, largely on account of an exposure to other cultures and tions, the release said.