Brahman and Person: EssaysAbout the Book: - Brahman and Person is a collection of essays by the late Richard De Smet (1916-1997) on the topic of person in Indian thought. Overturning the current interpretation, De Smet proposes that the nirguna Brahman can be regarded as properly personal, provided person is understood in the original and classical sense that emerged in the Christian effort to speak abut the mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation. The Rendering of saguna and nirguna Brahman as personal and impersonal, instead originated with the Western translators of Sanskrit works, who were influenced by an individualistic idea of the person and the consequent restriction of its application to the human being. De Smet also dedicated attention to the question of the human person in Indian and Western thought over a number of essays, proposing that a properly holistic and organic notion of the human person can be found especially n the thought of sankara. This collection of essays by an eminent Indologist constitutes and important contribution not only to Indological studies but also to cross cultural and interreligious dialogue. About the Author:- Richard De Smet taught Indian Philosophy at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune. Born in Belgium in 1916, he joined the Jesuits in 1934 and came to India in 1946. He earned a Ph.D. in 1953 from the Gregorian University, Rome, for his thesis on the theological method of Sankara, proposing both that sankara was srutivanadin, and that he used the method of analogy in his interpretation of the Upanisadic mahavakyas. De Smet was a life member of the Indian Philosophical Congress and the Indian Philosophical Association and Founder-President of the Association of Christian Philosophers of India and in these capacities carried out an ongoing dialogue with Indian philosophers and religious personalities. He died in 1997. Ivo Coelho is Reader in Gnoseology and Metaphysics at Divyadaan: Salesian Institute of Philosophy, Nashik, and editor of Dvyadaan: Journal of Philosophy and Education Born in 1958 at Mumbai, he studied under De Smet at Pune, and went on to specialize in the hermeneutical thought of the Canadian Philosopher theologian and economist Bernard Lonergan. He is interested in issues of cross-cultural and interreligious understanding, dialogue and collaboration. He is the author of Hermeneutics and Method: The Universal Viewpoint in Bernard Lonergan (Toronto, 2001). |
Contents
Preface | 5 |
Persona Anima Atman | 31 |
Concerning the Indian View of | 37 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
Absolute activity Advaita Advaita Vedānta Aristotle ātman Bhagavad Gītā body Brahman buddhi Buddhism called Christian Collected Papers Concept of Person consciousness creatures D.D. Vadekar darśanas Descartes desire dharma dignity divine DNC 73/DES/COL doctrine dynamism Editorial Verbo Enciclopedia Luso-Brasileira energeia essence eternal existence finite freedom Gītā Hindu Hinduism holistic human person immortality Indian Ecclesiastical Studies Indian Philosophical Annual Indian Philosophical Congress Indian Philosophical Quarterly Indian Theological Studies individual inner integral intuition jīva jīvātman knowledge Lisboa Luso-Brasileira de Cultura Malkovsky man's Marathi Tattvajnana Mahakosa meaning Metaphysics monad nature Nobili College object ontological P.F. Strawson paramātman perfect Poona potency prakṛti prime matter principle psychê Published Pune pure purușa Rāmānuja rational reality rebirth reflection religion Reprint Richard De Smet Samkhya Śankara says sense social society soul spiritual śruti subsistent substance substantial form supreme Tattvajnana Mahakosa Mandal term person Thomistic transcendence translated Typescript unity universe Upanisads Vedānta Vedic whole