The role of philosophy in the academic study of religion in Indian

Joseph T. O’Connell drew attention to the relative scarcity of academic work on religion in South Asia, and o ered as a plausible explanation for this state of a airs the tension between secular and religio‐political communal interests. This paper explores the potential role of phi‐ losophy as an established academic discipline within this situation, in the context of India. It argues that objective study, including evaluation, of the truth claims of various religious traditions is an important aspect of academic as opposed to confessional engagement with religion, and that philosophy in India is especially well suited to undertake such re ection and to provide corresponding education. Unlike Western countries, philosophy and religion were never clearly separated in India and did not evolve in tension with one another. The history of Indian philosophy therefore includes and is included within the history of its ‘religions’, in a way that makes philosophical examination of the truth claims of Indian religions internal to those religions themselves. By tracing this history, the discipline of philosophy can help to unsettle the idea of religion as a matter of xed dogma. It can also continue the procedure of interpreting and evaluating metaphysical and epistemological theses that has been an intrinsic component of Indian religious thought for most of its history

Asian Philosophies and the Idea of Religion: Beyond Faith and Reason

With a focus on Asian traditions, this book examines varieties of thought and self-transformative practice that do not fit neatly on one side or another of the standard Western division between philosophy and religion. It contains chapters by experts on Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, Hindu and Jain philosophies, as well as ancient Greek philosophy and recent contemplative and spiritual movements. The volume also problematizes the notion of a Western philosophical canon distinguished by rationality in contrast to a religious Eastern "other". These original essays creatively lay the groundwork needed to rethink dominant historical and conceptual categories from a wider perspective to arrive at a deeper, more plural and global understanding of the diverse nature of both philosophy and religion. The volume will be of keen interest to scholars and students in the Philosophy of Religion, Asian and Comparative Philosophy and Religious Studies

Author Meets Readers

The exchange between Peter Park, Dan Flory and Leah Kalmanson on Park’s book Africa, Asia and the History of Philosophy: Racism in the Formation of the Philosophical Canon (Albany: SUNY Press, 2013) took place during the APA’s 2016 Central Division meeting (Chicago, Illinios) on a panel sponsored by the Committee on Asian and Asian-American Philosophers and Philosophies. After having peer-reviewed the exchange, JWP invited Sonia Sikka and Mark Larrimore to engage with these papers. All the five papers are being published together in this issue

Not Available

Not AvailableWind erosion is a severe land degradation process in hot arid western India and affects the agricultural pro duction system. It affects crop yield directly by damaging the crops through abrasion, burial, dust deposition etc.and indirectly by reducing soil fertility. In this study, an attempt was made to quantify the indirect impact of wind erosion process on crop production loss and associated economic loss in hot arid ecosystem of India. It has been observed that soil loss due to wind erosion varies from minimum 1.3 t ha−1 to maximum 83.3 t ha−1 as per the severity. Yield loss due to wind erosion was found maximum for groundnut (Arachis hypogea) (5–331 kg ha−1 yr−1 ), whereas minimum for moth bean (Vigna aconitifolia) (1–93 kg ha−1 yr−1 ). For pearlmillet (Pennisetum glaucum), which covers a major portion of arable lands in western Rajasthan, the yield loss was found 3–195 kg ha−1 yr−1 . Economic loss was found higher for groundnut and clusterbean (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba) than rest crops, which are about 191–12465 ha−1 depending on the severity of wind erosion. For mustard (Brassica spp.) and wheat (Triticum spp.) the economic loss was about 47–3181 ha−1, whereas for pearl millet the economic loss was lowest ( 36–2294 ha−1 ). In this calculation only indirect impact of wind erosion in terms of reduction in soil fertility was considered. There is need of future research work for assessing the direct damage on crops by wind erosion process, addition of which may lead to higher magnitude of losses.Not Availabl