In Praise of Heresy

From Socrates to Ambedkar
Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-0-19-013054-1
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 136 Seiten, Print PDF, Format (B × H): 147 mm x 226 mm, Gewicht: 318 g

In today's global climate of pre-packaged opinions, every effort of original thinking is an act of dissent. To think radically today is to be a heretic: committing 'heresy' not in its theological sense, but in relation to its ancient Greek roots, which means 'choice'. With the rise of the post-industrial global village dominated by media networks and technology-led communication, the 'epidemic of conformism' has completely paralysed intellectuals' ability to question. It has now become critical to examine the central role of heresy in the formation of critical thinking and anti-dogmatism.
Since the time of Socrates to the present, public intellectuals have aligned themselves with the heretical imperative by questioning organized power and opened up social, political, economic, and cultural life to public scrutiny and accountability. This effort is described in this volume through the self-examined lives of philosophers such as Socrates and José Ortega y Gasset, Albert Camus, and Yukio Mishima. They serve to elaborate the context of the author's bold claim that B.R. Ambedkar, the central character of the author's research, is the boldest heretic in Indian political history.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Jahanbegloo, Ramin

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Weltgeschichte

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- Introduction: In Praise of Heresy

- Part One: Against the Tide

- Chapter I: Thinking as Heretics: A Self-Examined Life

- Chapter II: Heresy and Rebellion: Confronting Tyranny and Mediocrity

- Chapter III: Aestheticizing Heresy: Death and Beauty

- Part Two: The Heretical Indian

- Chapter IV: Ambedkar and the Heretical Imperative

- Chapter V: The Art of Anti-Conformism

- Chapter VI: Ambedkar's Philosophy of Heresy

- Conclusion: Being Heretic Today

- Bibliography

Über Autor(innen)

Ramin Jahanbegloo is a political philosopher, and presently the executive director of the Mahatma Gandhi Center for Peace Studies and the vice dean of the Jindal Global Law School at O.P. Jindal Global University, India.