Philosophy of the "Gita"

Contents: Methods of interpretation - Principal concepts of the Gita - Translation of the Gita - Emerging philosophy of the Gita - Coherence and exegesis: A critique of alternative interpretations.

The Author: Ramesh N. Patel is Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Antioch College. He taught previously at Lake Forest College. In addition to a law degree, he holds an M.A. in Sanskrit from the University of Bombay, where he received numerous awards in Sanskrit scholarship. He also holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in Western philosophy from the University of New Mexico. He has published in English, Gujarati and Hindi, on subjects ranging from logical empiricism to Gandhian ethics. He has taught Eastern philosophy, as well as theory of knowledge, contemporary analytic philosophy, and the history of Western philosophy.

"A significantly original perspective on India's most famous and influential classic scripture. It challenges traditional interpretations with penetrating questions. Patel pursues his work with single-minded persistence, and the result is excellence." (Archie J. Bahm, Author of 'Bhagavad-Gita: The Wisdom of Krishna')
"Patel's book is worth reading by philosophers interested in western and eastern philosophy alike; it will help dispel the myth that Hindu philosophy is uniformly idealistic or theistic or 'world-renouncing' and the myth that the method of Hindu philosophy is fundamentally disanalogous to the method of western science." (Quentin Smith, International Philosphical Quarterly)
"This may be a watershed work. This new, archaic view deserves examination." (Al Denman, The Antioch Review)
"This book will be of interest to students of philosophy of religion and ethics who are looking for innovative examples of non-Western exegesis." (Guy L. Beck, Religious Studies Review)
"Sometimes, when one is beginning to wonder wether anything new and significant can be said on an overworked topic, a book appears to restore one's faith that scholarly vision is forever capable of penetrating to a further horizon, of discerning finer nuances and of discovering a new vein, just when one thought that all the ore had been minde. This is such a book." (Arvind Sharma, Philosophy East & West)