Summary of Amartya Sen's The Argumentative Indian

By IRB Media

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#1 The epic Mahābhārata presents each of the two arguments for doing your duty with much care and sympathy. However, the tragic desolation that the post-combat and post-carnage land seems to face towards the end of the book can even be seen as a vindication of Arjuna’s profound doubts.

#2 The Gita’s univocal message requires supplementation by the broader argumentative wisdom of the Mahabharata, which includes the perspectives of those who were defeated in the debates.

#3 The tradition of arguments and disputations has been exclusive to the Indian population, but it has not been limited to the male elite. Women have participated in both political leadership and intellectual pursuits in India, though they have not been as dominant in those roles as men.

#4 The arguments presented by women speakers in epics and classical tales, or in recorded history, do not always conform to the tender and peace-loving image that is often assigned to women.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: May 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9798822501003

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Insights on Amartya Sen's The Argumentative Indian

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The epic Mahābhārata presents each of the two arguments for doing your duty with much care and sympathy. However, the tragic desolation that the post-combat and post-carnage land seems to face towards the end of the book can even be seen as a vindication of Arjuna’s profound doubts.

#2

The Gita’s univocal message requires supplementation by the broader argumentative wisdom of the Mahabharata, which includes the perspectives of those who were defeated in the debates.

#3

The tradition of arguments and disputations has been exclusive to the Indian population, but it has not been limited to the male elite. Women have participated in both political leadership and intellectual pursuits in India, though they have not been as dominant in those roles as men.

#4

The arguments presented by women speakers in epics and classical tales, or in recorded history, do not always conform to the tender and peace-loving image that is often assigned to women.

#5

The Indian argumentative tradition has been used numerous times to challenge religious orthodoxy. The use of argumentative encounters has crossed the barriers of class and caste, as it was not uncommon for speakers of socially disadvantaged groups to challenge Brahminical orthodoxy.

#6

The argumentative tradition in India can be used to resist and undermine contemporary Indian inequality. Some of the most powerful arguments in Indian intellectual history have been about the lives of the least privileged groups, not the cultivated brilliance of well-trained dialectics.

#7

The tradition of argument in India has helped to make heterodoxy the natural state of affairs in India. It has helped to make Indian politics diverse and secular, and it has influenced the development of democracy in India.

#8

Democracy is not just a gift of the West, but a quint-essential Western idea and practice. However, democracy is intimately connected with public discussion and interactive reasoning. The reach and effectiveness of voting depend on the opportunity for open public discussion.

#9

The history of public reasoning in India is a history of the commitment of the Indian Buddhists to discussion as a means of social progress. The first three Buddhist councils were held in Rājagriha, Vaiśālī, and Kashmir, and they were primarily concerned with resolving differences in religious principles and practices.

#10

The history of heterodoxy in India has contributed to the emergence of secularism in India, and even the form that Indian secularism takes, which is not exactly the same as the way secularism is defined in parts of the West.

#11

Ashoka, as was mentioned earlier, wanted a general agreement on the need to conduct arguments with restraint. He went on to argue that depreciation should be for specific reasons only, because the sects of other people all deserve reverence for one reason or another.

#12

Indian secularism is different from Western versions, as it emphasizes neutrality between different religions. It does not necessarily disallow any person from deciding what to wear, so long as members of different faiths are treated symmetrically.

#13

The French ban on the wearing of religious head coverings in public schools is an example of how secularism can be interpreted in terms of the need for the state to be neutral between the different faiths.

#14

The presence of religious scepticism in India goes against the standard characterization of Indian culture as being extremely religious. However, these doubts coexist with deeply sceptical arguments that are also elaborately explored in Indian critical debates.

#15

The Lokāyata philosophy of scepticism and materialism,