London: Scholars in Mahatma Gandhi's
philosophy are gathering at Oxford University for a two-day
conference from today to mark the 140th anniversary of his
birth with a special focus on his spiritual beliefs.
Professor Richard Sorabji, one of the conference
organisers, said: "Gandhi is best known for his contribution
to politics but what is less well known is that he had a much
stronger preference for the non-political.
Gandhi sought to combine politics with an inner
development that was moral, not political.
He added: "His political actions depended on that
development, they could be called off if they violated it,
they sub-served it, and ideally they would be superseded if
once political action became unnecessary.
But are such moral and political goals even
compatible? The ancient Stoics tried to show how, but can
Gandhi?" The question brings out Gandhi’s interest as a
philosopher in his own right.
His philosophical interest was first made accessible
in a three-volume collection of his work made in Oxford by
Ragovan Iyer in 1986-7.
This year, the 140th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth,
a new edition is due to appear of the hundred volumes of his
Collected Works.
The event includes a talk on Gandhi: Morality in the
shadow of politics by Dr Faisal Devji, Reader in Indian
History at St Antony’s College.
Professor Kanti Bajpai, University Lecturer in the
Politics and International Relations of South Asia at Wolfson
College, will discuss Gandhian thought and its implications
for international relations.
Both academics are new appointments to Oxford and
their research draws attention to both Gandhi’s political and
his philosophical importance.
Professor Sorabji, an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson and
member of the Faculty of Philosophy, will discuss Gandhi and
the Stoics: squaring emotional detachment with universal love
and political objectives.
The conference is sponsored by Wolfson College and
the Asian Studies Centre of St Antony’s College.
-PTI
First Published: Friday, November 27, 2009, 15:36