The Life World of the Tamils- Part and Present: History of Science, Philosophy a

The Life World of the Tamils- Part and Present: History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization (Volume 6 Part 5)
 
The volumes of the PROJECT ON THE HISTORY OF SCIENCE, PHILOSOPHY AND CULTURE IN INDIA CIVILIZATION aim at discovering the main aspects of India's heritage and presenting them in an interrelated way. These volumes, in spite of their unitary look, recognize the difference between the areas of material civilization and ideational culture. The project is not being executed by a single group of thinkers and writers who are methodologically uniform or ideologically identical in their commitments. In fact, contributions are made by different scholars with different ideological persuasions and methodological approaches. The Project is marked by what may be called 'methodological pluralism'.
In spite of its primarily historical character, this Project, both in its conceptualization and execution, has been shaped by many scholars drawn from different disciplines. It is for the first time that an endeavour of such a unique and comprehensive character has been undertaken to study critically a major world civilization like India.
This volume tries to bring out the material civilization and the spiritual culture of the life-world of the Tamils from the 5th century B.C. up to the 12th Century A.D. It covers the Sangam and post-Sangam thinkers and works as well as the entire devotional and mystical literature highlighting the salient features of the everyday life of the people, their philosophy and religion, and the social, economic and political organization that was prevalent in those days. As the spokesman of the Tamil culture, Tiruvalluvar brought out the importance of the pursuit of wealth (artha), the cultivation of virtues (aram), and the enjoyment of life (inbam) for achieving spiritual transcendence. This is the message conveyed by the Tamil tradition to the present generation.
This volume will be of interest not only to students and scholars of philosophy but also to social philosophers and cultural historians.
D. P. CHATTOPADHYAYA, M.A., LL.B., PhD (Calcutta and London School of Economics), D. Litt. (Honoris Causa), researched, studied Law, Philosophy and History and taught at various Universities in India, Asia, Europe and the USA from 1954 to 1994. Founder-Chairman of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research (1981-1990) and President-cum-Chairman of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (1984-1991), Chattopadhyaya is currently the Project Director of the multidisciplinary 96-volume PHISPC, Chairman of the CSC and Chairman of the Indian Philosophical Congress. He is a Life Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a Member of the International Institute of Philosophy, Paris. Among his 35 books, authored 18 and edited 17, are Individuals and Societies; Individuals and Worlds; Sri Aurobindo and Karl Marx; Anthropology and Historiography of Science; Induction, Probability and Skepticism; Interdisciplinary Studies in Science, Society, Value and Civilizational Dialogue and Philosophy of Science, Phenomenology and other essays. Besides, he has held high public offices, namely, cabinet minister and state governor.
R. BALASUBRAMANIAN, Ph. D. and D. Litt. (Madras University), Vacaspati (Honoris Causa), a specialist in Advaita, Phenomenology and Existentialism, started his career in 1950. He taught at Besant Theosophical College, Vivekananda College and Annamalai University before joining the faculty of Radhakrishnan Institute for Advanced Study in Philosophy, University of Madras, of which he was the Director for a number of years. He started the Sri Aurobindo School of Eastern and Western Thought at Pondicherry University and was its first Chairman for five years. He spent a year at Stanford University as a Fulbright & Smith-Mundt scholar for his post-doctoral studies. He was Chairman of the Indian Council of Philosophical Research for a term. He is at present Visiting Professor, at the Sri Aurobindo School of Eastern and Western Thought and President, of the Afro-Asian Philosophy Association. His publications include Personalistic Existentialism of Berdyaev; The Taittiriyopanisad-bhasya-vartika of Suresvara; The Naiskarmyasiddhi; T.M.P. Mahadevan; Advaita Vedanta; Theistic Vedanta; The Enworlded Subjectivity: Its Three Worlds and Beyond.