Terus terang saya belum pernah membaca karya Amartya Sen yang membawa dia menerima Hadiah Nobel untuk ilmu ekonomi. Tapi dari sekelumit cerita The Telegraph ini, kita jadi tahu bahwa obsesi dia bukan melulu mengangkat si kecil, tetapi dia tahu betapa salahnya anggapan barat bahwa India inferior otaknya mengenai soal iptek.
Salam, RM Amartyas argument - On eve of talk, Nobel laureate challenges a few notions A STAFF REPORTER (The Telegraph) Sen in Calcutta on Saturday. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya Calcutta, July 30: India is more spiritual but the West thinks better. Right? Wrong, says Amartya Sen. In his latest book, The Argumentative Indian, the Nobel laureate has challenged notions that the West has an exclusive access to values at the foundation of rationality and reasoning while religion, faith and spirituality are the comparative advantages of Indian tradition. When imperialism occurred and Britain took charge of India, there was a general notion that they were superior in science and technology and spirituality was picked up as our weapon, Sen said while speaking to The Telegraph about his book this evening. This comparative advantage did somehow de-appreciate Indias scientific, mathematical, technical and rationalist tradition. The economist has highlighted Indias achievements in mathematics, astronomy, linguistics, medicine and political economy and traced the history of arguments in Indian tradition. The former Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, and now Lamont University Professor at Harvard is in town for a talk on Ancient Argument and Modern Democracy tomorrow at Nandan. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will formally release the book woven around essays and lectures on topics like secularism, gender inequality, class and caste relations, the Indian diaspora and western views of India on Monday in Delhi. According to Sen, the diversity of views and faiths and competing ideas that have always coexisted in India and survived over the years has led to a tolerant argumentative tradition. It is important to recognise that we come from a loquacious and argumentative culture where we regard argument to be good thing to participate in, Sen said, referring to the arguments between Krishna and Arjun in the Bhagwad Gita. In his book, he narrates how as a high-school student he had asked his Sanskrit teacher whether it was permissible to say that Krishna got away with an incomplete and unconvincing argument. My Sanskrit teacher told me that maybe you could say that, but you must say it with adequate respect, Sen recalled. A critic of religion in politics he condemns events like the Babri Masjid demolition and the mayhem in Gujarat Sen gives the examples of emperors Ashoka and Akbar, who epitomised tolerance and put reasoning over religion. A self-confessed democrat, the economist stressed on the importance of political activism and linked Keralas achievements in education and healthcare to these factors. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> <font face=arial size=-1><a href="http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=12htddde1/M=323294.6903899.7846637.3022212/D=groups/S=1705329729:TM/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1122977712/A=2896125/R=0/SIG=11llkm9tk/*http://www.donorschoose.org/index.php?lc=yahooemail";>Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education</a>!</font> --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. http://www.ppi-india.org *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Reading only, http://dear.to/ppi 4. Satu email perhari: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 5. No-email/web only: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 6. kembali menerima email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
