Concept of Man a Study in Comparative Philosophy

by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

Reprint of an important set of essays, by Indian and Western philosophers, including Green, Chinese, Jewish and Indian traditions.rep. of 1995 edition.

546 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Bharat Ratna Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was an Indian philosopher and statesman. He was the first Vice-President of India (1952–1962) and subsequently the second President of India (1962–1967).

One of India's most influential scholars of comparative religion and philosophy, Radhakrishnan is thought of as having built a bridge between the East and the West by showing that the philosophical systems of each tradition are comprehensible within the terms of the other. He wrote authoritative exegeses of India's religious and philosophical literature for the English speaking world. His academic appointments included the King George V Chair of Mental and Moral Science at the University of Calcutta (1921-?) and Spalding Professor of Eastern Religions and Ethics at Oxford University (1936–1952).

Among the many honours he received were a knighthood (1931), the Bharat Ratna (1954) and the Order of Merit in 1963. His birthday is celebrated in India as Teacher's Day.

Reviews

[Abhishek Kanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first Dr.Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan book. Right from the first page, you observe that he was a man of tremendous knowledge and wisdom.

This book is difficult to review because the concept of man is difficult to find in it or anywhere. In a vague way, the whole book is devoted to the idea of humanism, but this idea, too, is indefinite. In general, the author preach the doctrine that the proper study of mankind is man, and they also suggest the ideal that the proper study of man is mankind. More specifically, they deal with a number of basic and highly controversial concepts: "human nature," "man and nature," "man's relation to man," "man's relation to God," and "the ideal man."

This book gives a brief analysis of each of the following topics, attempting to show how cultural differences put the problems in very different perspectives, though reflections on the problems seem to converge on universal judgments: the ideal man, man's place in Nature, human society, the divine in man, human evolution, individuality, the realisatian of ideals, and the role of education in this process of realisation. Four very competent philosophers survey in turn four different traditions about the nature of human existence: John Wild surveys the ancient Greek tradition; Abraham J. Heschel, the Jewish tradition; Wing-tsit Chan, the Chinese tradition; and P. T. Raju, the Indian tradition.

"If the different truths are truths and the values are true values and all belong to the same reality, then there must be a way of integrating them without being eclectic." The truths are truths for man and values are values for man: man becomes the centre of sefereace for all

[Abhay Goel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good introduction into comparative philosophy through looking at a very large topic on how man is perceived across different cultures, religions and philosophies - primarily four of them viz Greek, Jewish, Chinese and Indian.
The section on Jewish and Chinese are quite succinct and to the point trying to give a distilled overview over the topic. The Indian section is however poorly written with Raju unabashedly trying at various points to prove the superiority of the Indian view, or even assert himself in the discussion rather than stick to the subject matter. Which is why the Indian section has the combined length of the Jewish and Chinese section.
Good for those who are unacquainted with Man as subject of philosophical study or someone who wants an introduction to Jewish, Chinese or Indian thought. Otherwise an avoidable book from the perspective of scholarship.
A bit disappointing that this has Radhakrishnan's name associated with it - this work is so different from his other works such as Idealist View of Life or Upanishads etc

[Ramesh]

i want to read

[Reshma]

to get knowledge