Facets of Humanism - Hardcover

When the humanistic world view had its beginning in Protagoras's declaration that man is the measure of things, it was very soon condemned as a subjective, individualistic doctrine without being understood. Yet, since the importance of humanism in the making of a meaningful, value-based society can never be overlooked, humanistic ideals kept trickling in over the years in both Western and Indian philosophical speculations; and it came to be increasingly realised that nothing unhuman can be of interest to man and nothing human can be alien to human thinking. However, 'humanism' now-a-days has become somewhat of a cliche, so much so that almost everybody engaged in some sort of intellectual exercise claims to be a humanist. What is required, therefore, is proper analysis and understanding of 'humanism' and its implications on, and applicability to, the present social scenario. With this objective, this book has focussed on the various aspects of humanism and the authors have attempted to carve out suitable models thereof for effective social structuring and nation building. Readers will benefit by the indepth analyses of the concept in its multifarious dimensions and its application to various aspects of intellectual discourse. Facets of Humanism will be of immense use to students and researchers in philosophy and the social sciences. AUTHOR DETAILS: P. K. Mohapatra, the General Editor of UTKAL STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY series, got his Ph.D from the University of Keele, England where he worked as a Common-wealth Scholar during 1974-77; and had been to the United States as a Fulbright Visiting Professor in 1989. A specialist in 'Philosophy of Mind' and 'Philosophy of Values', he has authored two books, entitled Personal Identity and Concepts and Problems, edited five books and published a number of articles. He has been the President of the Metaphysics Section of the Indian Philosophy Congress in 1983, and also the General President of the All Orissa Philosophy Association in 1998. Currently, Dr. Mohapatra is the senior-most Professor of Philosophy at Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. S.C. Panigrahi, editor of this volume, has been teaching in Utkal University for over 15 years. Dr. Panigrahi, a specialist in Indian Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind and Political Philosophy, has published two books and several articles. The other Editors of UTKAL STUDIES IN PHILOSOPHY series Dr. T. Patnaik, Dr. S. K. Mohanty and Dr. G.P. Das are Readers in the Dept. of Philosophy at Utkal University and recognised scholars in the areas of Analytic Philosophy and Indian Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of Mind and Action, Philosophy of Wittgenstein and analytical study of Advaita Vedanta, Political Philosophy and Philosophy of Values.