The library at the Indian High Commission in Wellington was inaugurated on July 7.
The ribbon was cut by Prof Stephen Levine of Victoria University, in the presence of other dignitaries, including outgoing Indian High Commissioner Muktesh Pardeshi.
The library inauguration was preceded by the launch of Prof J.L. Shaw’s book titled The Relevance of Indian Philosophy to Contemporary Western Philosophy.
Prof Shaw is a former Victoria University academician and acclaimed author of over 14 books on philosophy.
In his opening remarks at the book launch, Mr. Pardeshi said Prof Shaw’s book bridged the gap between East and West.
He said the book aims to promote an international culture of philosophical debate that respected human dignity and diversity.
“Philosophy is an inspiring discipline as well as an everyday practice that can stimulate intercultural dialogue,” Mr. Pardeshi observed.
Towards this end, the High Commission planned to host a series of talks as part of an academic cycle to promote international dialogue.
The significance of the book launch was explained by the author himself.
“It is a unique event not only in Wellington or New Zealand, but also in the world,” Prof Shaw told the assembled invitees. “A book launch on Indian and Comparative Philosophy has never been held in the past.”
Prof Shaw took the audience on a guided tour of the history of Indian and Western philosophy and introduced the towering figures who dominated their era with their contributions to philosophical thought.
The hour-long talk was peppered by references to Western thinkers such as the overarching father figure Plato, Bertrand Russell, Karl Marx, Hegel, Wittgenstein, as well as Eastern thinkers from the 3000-year-old Nyaya tradition of Indian philosophy and stalwarts such as Panini, Shankaracharya and Vivekananda.
But more importantly, Prof Shaw’s book demonstrates how the two distinct systems of thought are not mutually antagonistic or irreconcilable.
The path-breaking feature of the book is its compelling premise that the techniques of Indian philosophers can be utilised to resolve the conundrums and dead-ends encountered by contemporary Western philosophers.
Prof Shaw began his hour-long discourse at the book launch by debunking British author Rudyard Kipling’s famous contention that “East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.”
“The aim is to have a dialogue between the diverse traditions of Europe, Asia, North and South, East and West, so that each tradition derives some inspiration from the other,” Prof Shaw said.
“It is an extremely rewarding forum and falsifies the claim of Rudyard Kipling.”
The aim of the book is to demonstrate how Indian philosophy could contribute to the discussion of “shared problems” with Western philosophy, and “especially how Indian philosophy and Western philosophy can derive insights from each other.”
But to achieve that elusive synergy between the two apparently incompatible systems of thought, Prof Shaw realised he needed to address a fundamental question.
“Now, the Western philosopher might ask why should we study Indian philosophy if it is not useful for solving the problems of Western philosophy?”
To answer this question, Prof Shaw understood he needed first to demonstrate the relevance of Indian philosophy with respect to certain “shared problems or questions” of epistemology, philosophy of language, logic and values.
Prof Shaw laid out a two- step approach to bridge Indian and Cotemporary Western philosophies.
First, identify the age-old, unsolved problems that dog contemporary Western philosophy.
Second, find new or better solutions to those problems by using the techniques of Indian philosophers.
Prof Shaw cites Russell’s famous claim that the syllogism in Shakespeare’s Othello is an unresolvable philosophical question.
“Othello believes Desdemona loves Cassio. That is true. But Desdemona does not love Cassio. That is false,” Prof Shaw explained.
He continued: “Russell says nobody has solved this, not even Plato who is the forerunner of Western philosophy.”
But Prof Shaw relies on the Nyaya tradition of Indian philosophy, which goes back 2,500 years and was postulated by Mangeswar Upadhyay, to counter Russell.
“The mental state of Othello is attached to some love and that love plays a role here. So, it is not unreal love. It is real love, but projected there,” Prof Shaw said, adding, “This solves the unsolved philosophical problem of contemporary Western philosophy.”
Prof Shaw acknowledged that Russell’s great contribution to the philosophy of language, or to logic, was his Theory of Definite Description.
But the Theory of Definite Description was in vogue centuries before Russell in the Indian philosophical tradition of Nyaya, Prof Shaw pointed out.
Similarly, contemporary Western philosophers weaned on Plato defined knowledge as a “justified true belief.”
This theory has left contemporary Western philosophers polarised.
However, while the Nyaya tradition of Indian philosophy also agrees that knowledge is justified true belief, it puts “belief first, then truth and then the guarantee for its truth,” Prof Shaw explained.
This illustrates the typical way of how a traditional problem stemming from Plato and forming part of the current discourse by contemporary Western philosophers can be resolved by cross-disciplinary exchange.
Prof Shaw hailed the Indian philosopher Panini, who lived 3000 years ago, as “the greatest intellectual of human civilisation,” whose contribution to the structure of language is endorsed by the contemporary philosopher Chomsky and the MIT School of Philosophy.
Prof Shaw ended his discourse with Vivekananda’s view that religion must be universal and rational, and “not be in contradiction to reason.”
The aim of religion must be to “alleviate suffering for all.”
Prof Shaw said this matched his own one-world concept and the interpretation of the Brahman.
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