D. P. Chattopadhyaya Book order

In our epoch of globalisation, almost all the parts and regions of the world would more frequently interact, if not grow together, at least economically speaking and via electronic information exchange, leading to worldwide virtual ubiquity. Whether this sort of economic and informational globalization may lead to a cosmopolitan orientation, if not unity, of the different parts and regions of the world, is an intriguing question. Although the world became much more interconnected and interactive in terms of economics, information exchange and air traffic, the different cultural and social traditions still remain. Despite the noticeable globalization in economics and information real cosmopolitanism did not yet succeed very widely. All this would highlight ethical questions of an intercultural character which are discussed in the present volume from an analytical, methodological, and cosmopolitan perspective.

This engaging, wide-ranging study in comparative social and political philosophy gives a well-argued account of how ideological and even utopian views, such as normative communication, development and justice, are sociologically rooted. It also shows how this fact has been reflected in the social history of Asian countries like India and China, as well as some Western countries during the last two centuries.To illustrate the underlying concepts, reference is made to influential thinkers, both from the East and West, from Hegel and James Mill to Marx and Maozedong, and from Gandhi to Rawls.The author, himself one of the major contemporary Indian philosophers, offers arguments to show that the right version of cultural relativism is objective and judgeable.Concrete case studies are cited indicating why even fundamental values like indivisible peace and "our own green planet" cannot be practically universalized. Yet this work is a sustained plea for improvable understanding between the East and the West and the transcultural value orientation of different cultures.