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Book Review
From the blurb
Towards the New Horizon — World Order in the 21st Century: James B. L. Mayall, Krishnan Srinivasan; Standard Publishers (India), 225, Gupta Palace, A-2/42, Rajouri Garden Main Road, New Delhi-110027. Rs. 750.
The United Nations has not been any more successful than its predecessor, the League of Nations, in bringing about international cooperation based on a commitment to constitutional governance, human rights, and the rule of law. The vision of ‘One World’, a term added to the political lexicon by the American politician, Wendell Willkie, remains as far a cry as ever before. The peoples of the world are still mired in disagreements, some of them, as Jan Morris says in his Foreword to the volume, “inspired by degraded notions of patriotism.” In this volume, James Mayall, a Cambridge political theorist, and Krishnan Srinivasan, an Indian diplomat, take a look at the state of the world order — the former under the head “Nationalilsm and world politics in a global era,” and the latter under “Conflict and cooperation in the 21st century.”
While Mayall argues for the continuing relevance of nationalism, Srinivasan envisages a retreat to a world system in which a few great powers maintain order in their respective regions by common consent among themselves. While neither foresees the fulfilment of ‘One World’, as Morris notes, they are not “altogether dismayed” but speak with hope, a hope that is “born of profound experience and humane judgment…”
The Central Problems of Bharthruhari’s Philosophy: Devendra Nath Tiwari; Pub. by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 36, Tughlakabad Institutional Area, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, New Delhi-110062. Rs. 530.
Most of the research works and writings have underestimated the philosophical excellence of Bharthruhari; they considered his work primarily as metaphysics of language and grammar. For him, language is not confined to what we speak, read or write; it is the light, the unit of awareness, a conscious force; and it differs in character and function from sources of light such as the lamp. This work represents, in the words of Devendra Nath Tiwari (from his Preface), a cognitive approach, viewing Bharthruhari’s philosophy in the context of his “goal of analysing and interpreting cognition as revealed by language in usual communication.” While discussing the various concepts, the views of classical Indian philosophers and contemporary western language philosophers have been analysed. The word theorists’ arguments, counter-arguments and the reply from Bharthruhari’s side have also come in for an in-depth analysis.
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