ABSTRACT

This book examines key aspects of the history, philosophy, and culture of science in India, especially as they may be comprehended in the larger idea of an Indian civilization. The authors, drawn from a range of disciplines, discuss a wide array of issues — scientism and religious dogma, dialectics of faith and knowledge, science under colonial conditions, science and study of grammar, western science and classical systems of logic, metaphysics and methodology, and science and spirituality in the Mahabharata. This collection of essays aims to evolve a framework in which science, culture, and society in India may be studied fruitfully across disciplines and historical periods.

With its diverse themes and original approaches, the book will be of interest to scholars and researchers in the fields of the history and philosophy of science, science and religion, cultural studies and colonial studies, philosophy and history, as well as India studies and South Asian studies.

chapter 1|9 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|22 pages

Science and spirituality

Is there a common ground?

chapter 3|9 pages

Dialectics of culture and science

chapter 5|17 pages

Modern science in India and the emergence of a new worldview

Challenges and opportunities

chapter 7|13 pages

Indian deductive system

The logical basis of Indian sciences

chapter 8|13 pages

Motion interpreted

A bridge between science and spirituality

chapter 9|10 pages

Indian science and semiotics

Some reflections

chapter 10|5 pages

Integral non-dualism and modern science

Some reflections

chapter 11|13 pages

Principles of plant taxonomy

A fresh insight into the ancient Indian methodology and philosophy of naming and classifying medicinal plants

chapter 13|19 pages

Reconciling free will and determinism

An Indian appropriation of Benjamin Libet’s neuroscientific findings 1

chapter 15|24 pages

Revisiting concepts of health and disease

Evolution, philosophy, and integration

chapter 16|38 pages

A Connecticut Yankee in Indira’s court

A brief account of modern Indian science