An Encyclopaedic Survey of The Political Philosophies Since - 1905 (An Old Book)

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This is a reference book dealing with the political philosophies of the world since 1905. The ground covered is extensive. The political philosophies as interpreted here comprises five different orders of ideas and ideals. The book concerns itself, therefore with five different ideological histories viz., those of (1) Constitvtional and legal theories, (2) Economic thought in its manifold aspects, (3) Internationalism, (4) societal speculation and (5) Moral philosophy — with special reference, of course to the period since 1905. The book is divided into six chapters. Ch. I Is on a key to the interpretation of Political philosophy. Ch. II Deals with the Embryology of Modern Political Philosophy :Industrialization, Bourgeois Democracy and National Independence (1776-1870). Ch. III Modern Political Philosophy : The Philosophy of Imperialism (Political and economic), States Socialism and Race-Chauvinism ("White | Man’s Burden’) (1870-1905); Ch. IV Contemporary Political Philosophy : The Philosophy of Proletarian Sovereignty; Internationalization and Asian Self-assertion (1905-1928). It includes sub-sections — From the birth of Young Asia to the end of the Great War (1905-1918); Post War developments (1919-1928); Ideas and Ideals of International Relations; Ideas and Ideals of Human Development and Societal Evolution; Ideas and Ideals of Mental and Moral personality; The Isms of Today; Eight philosophies of Societal reconstruction, origin of the eight isms, conceptual evolution of the Isms, the Nation and the Isms. The State and the Isms. Types of Anarchism, Anarchism vs. Bolshevism. Syndicalism vs Bolshevism. Guidsocialism vs Syndicalism, The State not Discredited., The Other Isms. Four varieties of Pluralism. Absolutism, Idealism and Minism. Anti Democratism in office and Theory, New Freedom, Social Control and Neo-individualism, Internationalism and Neo-Nationalism, Legalism and Sovereignty. Ch. VI is on Socio- Philosophical Equations. The book contains and appendix and an Index.

The first-hand investigations and original interpretations of Professor Benoy Kumar Sarkar in the achievements and problems of modern civilization constitute some of his special contributions to the thought and literature of Young India.

And they have won recognition in Europe and America as well.

:As the twelve-year long intellectual work of Professor Sarkar in foreign scientific circles may not be so well known to our countrymen let me begin this foreword with a short account of that phase of his literary life.

His Economic Development: Snapshots of world-movements an commerce, economic legislation, industrialism and technical education (based mainly on French, German and Italian sources, pages 464), published in 1926, has been appreciated in the Sociological Review of London by the editor Professor Patrick Geddes in the following terms:

"This book is of interest to us, Westerners, on its own merits of extensive knowledge of us; as well as for its presentment of Indian outlooks beyond those commonly current. For instead of abstract politics we have here concrete econ- omics, and seen as fundamental to politics, largely of a new kind. To the general student of economics this treatment should be suggestive; indeed at its best it is exemplary.

"Prof. Sarkar has for many years been studying one European country after the other, and from many view- points: so his book is a result not only of reading, but of wide personal intercourse and travel, and full of economic information and social reflection from all these sources.

With all his descriptive concreteness there are large and bold generalizations and frequent passages of social criticism and interpretation ; and these ranging over France and Ger- many, from America to Japan, and of course from India to Britain, and home again: in fact leading up to a broad sketch of an economic policy, very comprehensive for young India.

Alike as widely informative and as actively stimulating, this book will be found well worth looking through and thinking over both in Hast and West."

Professor Taussig of Harvard University is of opinion that the scheme referred to above is "a large programme laid out in a statesmanlike way." What it aims to do would " tax to the utmost the capacity of any set of people."

Students of Indian economic thought can notice in Mr. Sarkar’s work the advance in methods, materials and messages of economic research that has been made since the days of Ranade and Dutt.

The Sueddeutsche Monatshefte of Munich, in its special Asia number edited by Professor Haushofer, says the following, among other things, in connection with Mr. Sarkar’s Futurism of Young Asia (Leipzig 1922, pages 410) in the course of a lengthy essay devoted to it:

"It explains perhaps more explicitly than all others the relation of the national ideals of China and India with Pan- Asian currents of thought and their antithesis to the Eur_ American tendencies." The reviewer describes it as "a guide to the ideas of the leaders of Asian movements. Everybody who undertakes a deeper and more intensive investigation in this problem in so far as the exhibition of surging ideas is concerned will have to begin chiefly by analyzing Sarkar’s philosophical fresco of awakening Asia.’ In this German scholar’s judgment The Futurism " is the most magnificent of all the presentations from the Asian standpoint."

In the American Political Science Review Professor Garner describes this book as the work of an "erudite and prolific scholar." He says further: "The wide range of subjects intelligently discussed in the volume reveals evidence of unusual versatility on the part of the author."

Professor Sarkar’s essay entitled The Science of History, (Longmans, London 3912) is described in Open Court (Chicago) as follows:

‘The book shows an unusually broad conception of his- tory not commonly found in scholars of oriental birth. The main tendency is to show the paramount importance of world- forces for the development of every single nation."

Tus publication owes its origin to a course of lectures delivered by me at the Kashi Vidya- pitha, Benares, in October, 1927, at the suggestion of my friend, Shri Shivaprasad Gupta, founder of the institution. The book may be taken to be ar. enlarged table of contents or rather an expanded syllabus, as I have tried particularly to boil down the bulky material into the shortest possible compass.

The ground covered, however, is more extensive as well as more up-to-date than the prescribed courses of study for any single batch of post- graduate students in India. Indeed, political philosophy as interpreted here comprises five different orders of ideas and ideals. The book concerns itself, therefore, with five different ideological histories, rz., those of (1) constitutional and legal theories, (2) economic thought in its manifold aspects, (3) internationalism, (4) societal speculation and (5) moral philosophy,—with special reference, of course, to the period since 1905.

The subject has been demanding my attention for a book that might easily grow into five times the present size. The’ present attempt seeks only to single out one or two characteristic ideas or doctrines from the leading documents of thought and indicate some of the more important secondary sources.

Even where quotation-marks have not been used, I have tried to employ the language of the originals especially for ch. IV, and to a certain extent also for ch. III.

The historic succession of dates, names and titles is a chief object of this survey. But the bony framework has been endowed with as much meaty stuff as possible within the limitations imposed by considerations of space.

In a small book like this the tendency to content oneself with single-word criticisms or interpretations were almost inevitable. But such abstract summing-ups have, as a rule, been held in check. My aim is to exhibit in the main an objective march of ideas and ideals without the shackles of commentarial intrusion.

The ideologies, however, have been presented not as a classified list of isms and a history of their fortunes, but as an inductive study of men, institutions and movements in evolution. The value of the personality, the contributions of the individual, the diversities in the individuality of thinkers and statesmen have been sought to be exhibited in their realistic make-up.

I have avoided, moreover, the stereotyped order in which philosophical evolution in politics, economics and sociology is generally exhibited. A way will perhaps be seen to have been opened for fresh orientations and novel outlooks in the regions of modern thought.

It is time for India to commence studying Eur- American as well as Asian and African developments through her own eyes and interpreting them from her own angle of vision. One cannot depend exclusively on Western interpretations even when many of the facts and phenomena happen to be Western.

The essay on Chitta Ranjan Das and Young Asia which appears in the Appendix may be taken as an illustration as well as to a certain extent a verification of the " socio-philosophical equations" discussed in Ch. VI.

The absence of library facilities in India is a paramount handicap to researches in world-problems and world-thought, especially so far as the European continent is concerned. Even as an out- line the book might have been improved under better conditions of study, such as prevail else. where.

**Contents and Sample Pages**